Ann Phan Ngọc Quới / Ann Ngoc-Quoi Phan

Yvonne Poncelet (1907-1955)

YVONNE PONCELET IN AIR CRASH

Head of lay women missionaries

MLLE. YVONNE PONCELET, general president of the Society of International Catholic Auxiliaries—a group of lay women missionaries with headquarters in Brussels—was among the passengers in the air liner lost in the mountains near Rome at the beginning of last week.

Born 48 years ago in Liege, Mlle. Poncelet distinguished herself early in life in Catholic Action movements there. She gave much time to girl guide and wolf cub groups.

She had already decided lo consecrate her life to the service of the missionary Church when she met Fr. Andre Boland—whose geath was reported last month— who proposed the organisation, in the spirit of Fr. Vincent Lebbe, of a group of young women who would dedicate themselves entirely to the service of the Bishops in non-Christian countries.

A small group was formed, of which Yvonne Poncelet soon became president.

With extraordinary dynamism she directed its development, at first slow, but soon more and more rapid, so that to-day the society, founded in 1937, numbers 1M members of 15 different nationalities.

Teams of these women are already at work in Formosa, Viet Nam, India, Jordan. Lebanon. Syria, Ruanda and the Belgian Congo.

Others direct the training centres in Brussels, Chicago and Montreal, or run international centres for students from mission countries in Paris, Chicago and Rome.

Recently Mile. Poncelet undertook a tour of the Far East and America to study at first hand the best places to start new teams. She also visited all the Auxiliaries in Africa and the Near East.

She was on her way to Rome to present her annual report to the ecclesiastical authorities.

Catholic Herald, 25th February 1955, page 8
http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/25th-february-1955/8/yvonne-poncelet-in-air-crash



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updated 17 May 2012