Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On January 2, 2025, Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches), appointed Sister Justina Santander, SSPS, as national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of Paraguay for the period 2025-2030.
Sister Justina Santander, 66, and of Paraguayan nationality, has more than 40 years of religious and missionary life in the Missionary Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit. For 33 years, she worked as a missionary abroad, mainly in Botswana. She has a diploma in spirituality and pastoral care from The Milltown Institute in Ireland, where she also studied English. She obtained a degree in religious education and another in educational management from the University of South Africa, and has participated in numerous specialization courses, including one on sign language and inclusive education.
Last year, she took part in leadership and spiritual development at the Mater Dei Pastoral Center in South Africa. Her pastoral duties include her work as director of the St. Arnold Primary School in Tonota (Botswana), coordinator of the HIV/AIDS program at St. Joseph School, superior in the community of Gaborone, and teacher of religious and Christian education at St. Joseph Kale School, where she developed a pastoral program for orphanage students with specific needs, among other tasks. In addition, she worked at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Desert in Francistown and is a member of missionary animation at the Society of the Divine Word, in Paraguay. (EG) (Agenzia Fides, 4/2/2025)
