VICTORIA, Seychelles — The Seychelles Interreligious Council, known locally as SIFCO, hosted a farewell lunch on Tuesday at the Escale Resort and Spa in honour of Sister Marie Alice Vivien, a member of the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny who has served in Seychelles for the past 15 years and five months. The President of the Republic, Wavel Ramkalawan, and the First Lady, Linda Ramkalawan, attended the lunch as special guests, in a sign of the breadth of the sister’s service across the religious and civic life of the country. Sister Alice had been due to leave on Tuesday but, with cyclone Belal disrupting flights through Mauritius, her departure has been pushed back to Saturday.
The SIFCO executive committee, in remarks at the lunch, expressed its gratitude to Sister Alice for her work with the Seychellois people over more than a decade and a half. The sister has been involved in pastoral, educational, and interreligious dialogue work since her arrival in Seychelles. The council, which brings together representatives of the country’s main faith communities, said her contribution had been marked by quiet, sustained engagement rather than high-profile events.
Sister Alice had been due to depart Seychelles on Tuesday, but the leg of her journey through Mauritius has been delayed by the passage of cyclone Belal. Her departure is now expected on Saturday, and after a two-month stay in Mauritius, she will continue to her congregation’s mother house in France. The cyclone, which passed closest to Mauritius on Monday and Tuesday, caused widespread damage on the island and led to the cancellation of most flights in and out of the country.
For SIFCO, the farewell marks the end of a long chapter of cooperation with the Cluny sisters in Seychelles, an order with deep historical roots in the islands. The council said it expected the relationship to continue, in a different form, after Sister Alice’s departure. Several members of the country’s small Catholic community are expected to be present at Saturday’s send-off.
The president’s presence at the lunch underlines the high regard in which the sister is held, and the importance SIFCO has placed on marking the contribution. The Escale Resort venue was chosen, organisers said, to give the lunch a sense of occasion without overshadowing the simplicity of the sister’s work over the years.
