Sr. Benedicta Aranha BS has been elected as the Provincial Superior of the Guwahati Province. She will be assisted by a provincial council consisting of Sr. Jhansy BS (Assistant Provincial Councillor), Sr. Agatha BS (Second Councillor), Sr. Laveena BS (Third Councillor), and Sr. Sapna BS (Fourth Councillor).
The Guwahati Province currently includes 17 communities across Northeast India and neighbouring regions. These include the Bethany Provincial House in Guwahati and communities located in Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, and Nepal, where the sisters are engaged in ministries of education, pastoral care, social outreach, and formation.
The Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany was founded on 16 July 1921 in Mangalore by Servant of God Rev. Fr. Raymond Francis Camillus Mascarenhas, then parish priest of St. Sebastian Church, Bendur. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the congregation was established to respond to the needs of the Church and society, especially in rural and mission areas.
The Bethany mission in Northeast India began in 1962, when four sisters arrived in Kolasib, Mizoram, to assist the Holy Cross Fathers in education and pastoral ministry. Over the decades, the congregation expanded its presence across the seven states of Northeast India, contributing to the life of the Church through schools, hostels, social services, and parish ministries.
In 2020, as part of the centenary year of the congregation, the North East Province was reorganised and renamed the Guwahati Province, while a new Silchar Province was created to facilitate more effective pastoral administration.
Today the Bethany Congregation has over 1,300 sisters serving in 191 communities across Asia, Europe, and Africa, continuing its mission of evangelization, education, and service inspired by the spirituality of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, patroness of the Guwahati Province.
The upcoming installation of the new provincial leadership marks a renewed phase of mission and service for the congregation in the Northeast.