Rome (Italy). The coming Chapter will certainly be an opportunity for reflection and an experience of invoking the Holy Spirit to launch the Institute towards the years to come. One way to describe the Chapter is in numbers.

What will be celebrated this year will be the 23rd General Chapter in the history of the Institute. There will be 194 participants. Among them are the 16 Sisters of the General Council, 77 provincials, 5 Leaders of pre-provinces, 92 delegates and 4 invited guests.

There will be 113 chapter members who take part in the Chapter for the first time, 41 for the second time, 20 for the third, 12 for the fourth, 6 for the fifth, one for the sixth, and one – Sr. Aurelia Rossi – for the seventh time.

The average age of the participants is 56.4 years, with 5 Sisters under 40 years; 19 between 41 and 45; 35 between 46 and 50; 34 between 51 and 55; 26 between 56 and 60; 34 between 61 and 65; 29 between 66 and 70; 12 who are over 70 years of age.

The average number of years of profession is 32.88. It starts at 6 and reaches 50 years.

There are 12 participants of African origin, while 18 presently live in Africa. There are 33 participants of Asian origin, while 35 presently live in Asia. There are 76 participants of European origin, while 74 presently live in Europe. There are 73 participants of American origin, while 65 presently live in America. There are 2 participants who presently live in Oceania.
Those taking part in the Chapter are spokespersons for the charismatic journey of the 12.959 FMA who work throughout the world. Today the FMA are present in 94 Nations, distributed as follows: in 24 Nations of Africa-Madagascar there are 516 FMA, in the 23 Nations America there are 4.031, in 21 Nations of Asia there are 2.473, in 22 Nations of Europe there are 5.890, in 4 Nations of Oceania there are 49. These numbers reveal something of the vitality and expansion of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.