OLA Sister Meets Pope Francis


Sr. Anne Falola recounts her encounter with the Holy Father.

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Sr. Anne Falola with Pope Francis.


Sr. Anne Falola had the opportunity to personally greet Pope Francis following morning mass in the Chapel of Santa Marta last week.  Sr. Anne, who helped set-up the Maria Centre for internally displaced people in Abuja, Nigeria earlier this year, was in Rome for the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy before travelling on to Cordoba, Argentina - at the invitation of the Manos Abiertas foundation.

Sr. Anne explained how the meeting came about:

“Manos Abiertas is a Jesuit foundation working with the poor, terminally ill who have nobody to care for them, people living on the streets and many others at the margins of the society. 

"During my mission in Argentina from 1995 to 2005, I helped to start the Manos Abiertas foundation in Cordoba.  I was very involved in forming and accompaning volunteers to support the foundation.  I was invited to give some talks to volunteers on the International Day for Volunteers on the 5th of December and also to visit the various projects as I was the pioneer coordinator of volunteers.

"Given the Jesuit connection, Pope Francis would have been aware of the group. Since I was in Rome, the Director of the Manos Abiertas arranged for me to meet with Pope Francis!"


Emotional experience

Sr. Anne went on to describe the surreal experience of being in the presence of the Pope and her encounter with him:

“It was a rare privilege to be at the Pope's private Mass in the small Chapel in Domus Santa Marta.  The Holy Father sat close to me when saying his private prayers,  it was awesome!  After the Mass, he went to the door of the Chapel to greet us one by one - like any parish priest would after Mass.  It was an emotional experience to speak with him in Spanish and then his joyful expression when I told him of my link with Manos Abiertas, a project he loves very much in his native Argentina.”

Today, Manos Abiertas – which translates as 'open arms' in English - has about 25,000 volunteers across Argentina.  The OLA Sisters continue to work with the foundation. Sr.  Edel Mowah, from Nigeria, is the head of the nursing team in the Casa de la  Bondad centre, Cordoba. 

Sr. Anne has now arrived at the OLA Community in Cordoba, which includes Srs. Esek and Edel from Nigeria, Sr. Annarosa from Italy and Sr. Mariela from Argentina.