Bridget Sequeira, FMCK, was a Pakistani-Indian

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...

who founded the

Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King The Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King (F.M.C.K.) is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women that originated in what is now Pakistan and founded schools, orphanages, homes for the aged and disabled and hospitals throughout the coun ...

, a missionary

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from Religious order (Catholic), religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – i ...

for women, in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, Pakistan, then India. It is currently headquartered in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, India.

Early life

Sequeira was born in

Bushehr Bushehr (; ) is a port city in the Central District (Bushehr County), Central District of Bushehr County, Bushehr province, Bushehr province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Etymology The roots of the n ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, on 12 December 1905. Her parents were Joao Felipe Sequeira and Matilda de Melo from the Sonarbhatt section of Saligao, in the District of

North Goa North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnatak ...

, then part of

Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

, now part of the Republic of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.Sister Ursula, FMCK ''Foot Prints on the Sands of Time''. Lourdes Convent, Saligao, North Goa, India In 1913 she was sent to Karachi, then still part of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, where she studied at St Joseph's Convent School and passed the

Senior Cambridge The Senior Cambridge examinations were General Certificate of Education examinations held in India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore. They were preceded by the Junior Cambridge and Preliminary Cambridge examinations. History India The ...

examination in 1921. She then joined the staff of St Joseph’s School. She later passed the Secondary Teachers' Certificate Examination and went on to a teaching job at St Joseph's Convent School in the same city.

Religious life

In 1937 she founded the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King in Karachi, at JM3/574 Catholic Colony No. 2. This house was given to Mother Bridget by Anthony Venantius, in order to start the FMCK. They started growing and a convent was built in the same area, and they belong to St. Philomena's church, later named Christ The King. The congregation has grown and spread through various parts of India, Pakistan and Sharjah. In 1939 Sequeira was also elected as a member of the Municipal Council by the people of Karachi. In 1946 Sequeira sailed to her ancestral city of Saligao, accompanied by three sisters of the congregation, landing in Goa on 13 May. They arrived at the house in

Cotula ''Cotula'' is a genus of flowering plant in the Asteraceae, sunflower family. It includes plants known generally as water buttons or buttonweeds. The species within this genus can vary extensively in their Habit (biology), habit, Leaf#Morpholog ...

where her aunt, Etelvina de Melo, operated St. Mary's Girls School, which had been founded in 1900 by Joshino Sequeira as the first English school for girls in Goa. Mother Bridget then took control of the school from her aunt. With this the Franciscan Missionaries became established in India. Later the sisters would build their own modern structure on a hill in Donvaddo in Saligao, called the Lourdes Convent High School. It was built in three stages and finally completed in 1968. After stepping down from the office of Superior General, Mother Bridget came to St. Elizabeth's Convent in Pomburpa, Goa where she joined ranks and files and moved quietly into the life of the sisters in Pomburpa. The people there were keen on meeting her. She personally visited people who were ill or lonely and brought them comfort. Food was given generously to all in need. On 1 July 1987 Mother Bridget died in Christ the King Convent – Mother House in sector of Metropolitan Karachi.

Legacy

The congregation has constructed schools, orphanages, and hospitals, as well as homes for the aged and disabled. During their 10th

General Chapter A chapter ( or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings. Name The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the reading of a chapter o ...

held in 2005, the sisters decided to move the

motherhouse A motherhouse or mother house is the principal house or community for a Catholic religious community.YourDictionaryMotherhouse/ref> One example is the Missionaries of Charity's motherhouse in Kolkata, which functions as the congregation's headquart ...

from Karachi to

Old Goa Old Goa (Konkani: ; ) is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The city was established by the Bijapur ...

and to divide the administration of the congregation into two

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

: the province of Saint Francis of Assisi in Pakistan and Saint Clare's Province in India, as well as three regions, which are expected to develop into full provinces. In 2010 there were 61 sisters in Pakistan, still working in their various institutions and ministries under the congregation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sequeira, Bridget 1905 births 1987 deaths People from Bushehr Founders of Catholic religious communities Roman Catholic missionaries in India 20th-century Indian Roman Catholic nuns Female Christian missionaries Indian Roman Catholic missionaries Third Order Regular Franciscans 20th-century Pakistani Roman Catholic nuns Pakistani people of Goan descent Roman Catholic missionaries in Pakistan Franciscan missionaries St Joseph's Convent School, Karachi alumni