The Marian Community of Reconciliation, known as the Fraternas because of their name in Spanish — la Fraternidad Mariana de la Reconciliación – recently named their new Superior General, Luciane Urban, one of the pioneers who brought the community to the United States and who, until she moved into her new role, lived in the Denver community.
The Fraternas were founded in Lima, Peru in 1991. They later received canonical approval as a Society of Apostolic Life and as such, their members consecrate their lives to God and to serving His Church in various dioceses and apostolates as messengers of love and reconciliation.
To learn more about the Marian Community of Reconciliation (the Fraternas), Urban shared a few details about her community and her new assignment as Superior General with the Denver Catholic.
Denver Catholic: What is the Marian Community of Reconciliation?
Luciane Urban: The Marian Community of Reconciliation is a Society of Apostolic Life born in Lima, Peru in 1991. We members, who are known as “Fraternas,” consecrate our entire lives to God, responding to his call to follow the Lord Jesus more closely, embracing the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and living in community as sisters in Christ under the maternal care of Mary.
In the United States, we have communities here in Denver and in San Antonio, and beyond that, we are in Italy, Australia, Chile, Columbia, Brazil, and in 3 dioceses in Peru.
DC: What is the mission of the Fraternas?
LU: The Fraternas seek to announce the Gospel in the midst of the world to everyone who needs it. Through our following of the Lord, we desire that his Word becomes alive in us, so that, in this way, Christ can encounter those that we meet and serve. Through the concrete apostolates that we carry out, we want to accompany others in their own walk of faith and discipleship with the Lord, so that in the encounter with Christ they may discover the call to sanctity and to share the treasure they have found with the others in their lives.
DC: What has been your assignment while in Denver?
LU: In recent years, while serving as the local superior of our community, I was studying for a Masters in Theology at the Augustine Institute and I was the Coordinator of Religious Education at the Cathedral.
DC: What does your new assignment as Superior General mean? What new challenges does it bring? Will you remain in Denver?
LU: As Superior General, it falls to me to look after each of the Fraternas and all of our communities and apostolic works. That means that I am to accompany the Fraternas so that they might be well, living the spirit of our vocation faithfully, and that they have a concrete assignment for their apostolic work. In our General Assembly last July, we also approved new constitutions, which is the document that defines and guides our life and mission. Therefore, I will have to make sure that all of the decisions and directions defined in this meeting and in the new document are applied.
Since the headquarters of our community is in the Archdiocese of Lima, Peru, I will have to live there.
DC: As you take on your new assignment, what hopes do you have for your community in this time of change?
LU: I have a lot of hope that the renewal that we are living as a community, with the new document that we have approved, will bring about a renewal in the hearts of each of my sisters as well, so that we may be more focused on the Lord and might live an increasingly evangelical life. That is the only way for what we decided on paper to come alive and bring fruits for the apostolates we engage in and in the lives of the people we serve.
DC: What impact has the community of Denver had in your life and vocation? What will you bring with you?
LU: Denver has a very special place in my heart because it was the first place I was assigned more than 23 years ago. I can say that I grew in my vocation here; I learned to live my consecration here; and in fact, I made my perpetual profession here in Denver in 2003. Besides, in the different fields in which I’ve served the Lord over the many years, I have made great friends whom I will carry in my heart and in my prayers. And I hope that they don’t forget me in their prayers, too!
Thank you for the opportunity to share the gift of our vocation and the call of the Lord with our brothers and sisters in the faith here in Denver!