“It is a reason for hope that the Institute as a whole is becoming more and more aware of the question of justice as an exigency of religious life.” (Sister Marguerite Marie Goncalves, 1972)

Salome Goncalves was born on June 25, 1917, in Ferro, Covilhã, Portugal. She joined the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Guimarães, Portugal, after receiving her education in an SHM school in Guarda. After profession she did university studies in science. She taught in Porto, Guarda, and Lisbon. She was Provincial Superior of the Portuguese Province and later Assistant General to Mother Rita Rowley.

Sister Marguerite Marie was elected eighth General Superior on September 15, 1963, just as the Second Vatican Council was beginning. In response to the Church’s call to renewal of religious life, she convoked a special General Chapter, which met in two sessions, 1968 and 1969. She formed a commission to study the sources of the Institute. The work of this special General Chapter and the sources commission enabled the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary to acquire a stronger understanding of their founding spirit and to examine how this spirit animates their mission in the world of today.