Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Washington

From the

Official News Magazine of the Diocese of Spokane

(From the Sept. 9, 2004 edition of the Inland Register)

Sisters of Providence Vilma Franco and Monica de Campillay and candidate Margarita Hernández, all from El Salvador, visited Spokane recently for the Sisters’ Provincial Chapter and a prayer ceremony welcoming Sister Vilma into the novitiate. While here they were able to use a $300 donation to buy affordable over-the-counter medical supplies through the pharmacy at Sacred Heart Medical Center to take home to their villages of La Papalota and Angela Montano. (IR photo from the Sisters of Providence)

The Mother Joseph Province of the Sisters of Providence welcomed Vilma Franco, 25, as a novice in a prayer ceremony Sunday, Aug. 15, at their annual Provincial Chapter in Spokane.

Sister Vilma, a native of the department of Chaletenango in El Salvador, has been visiting the Sisters in the Northwest along with traveling companion Margarita Hernández, 23, who is a candidate for the Religious community.

Sister Vilma will join other novices in Chile for the canonical year to explore in depth the call to vowed life in the Religious community.

Sisters of Providence have been in El Salvador since January 1995, said Sister Barbara Schamber, Team Leader/Provincial of Mother Joseph Province.

In February 2002, for the first time, the Sisters hosted their international General Conference there. The Sisters have a mission about 90 minutes from San Salvador and have been helping to rebuild homes that were destroyed in the earthquakes of early 2001.

“We call on the God of Providence to continue to inspire our Sisters in ministry in El Salvador with love of the poor as they carry out the mission there,” Sister Barbara said. “We are grateful that young Salvadoran women continue to be interested in the Sisters of Providence. Our ministry to the poor in El Salvador is a joy and a support to the people there.”

Sister Vilma lost her father and six brothers in El Salvador’s 12-year civil war. After the war, she and her sisters relocated with their mother to the department of the Usulutan in the coastal zone of El Salvador.

She was living with her mother, a sister and a niece in the community of Angelo Montano when Sister Fran Stacey moved there in 2000. Sisters Monica de L. Campillay and Maria Antonieta Trimpay join Sister Fran on the formation team in El Salvador.

While assisting with the youth ministry, Vilma expressed a desire to be a Sister and was encouraged by Sister Fran to pray and explore this call. Her involvement in ministry with the Sisters led Vilma to want to learn more about the Sisters of Providence and how to become a member of the Religious community.