Loretto M A G A Z I N E Summer 2015
Volume 57, No. 2
Loretto’s Diamond, Golden and Silver Jubilarians reflect on important milestone, page 7
In her radio studio, Maureen Fiedler SL (right) interviews pastors of two large congregations in the nation’s capital
The nun with the microphone makes for fascinating listening on ‘Interfaith Voices’ radio show
The nitty gritty: How Loretto achieves its core mission and ministries
About this issue . . .
, page 8........................................................................................ s
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t wouldn’t surprise anyone to know that the Loretto Community functions much the same as a corporation, a non-profit organization, a group of volunteer programs or even a government. The real work begins in committee. Loretto has many of these that function internally or externally to the Community. The ideas, discussion, decision-making, planning, execution and evaluation of the many aspects of Loretto’s mission work happen in committee session. Mission Activities Coordinator Eileen Harrington CoL has written about 10 committees and networks under the heading of Justice/Action where Loretto’s core work is undertaken. You might be surprised after all to discover the scope of this mission work and its very real effect on people in need, page 14. Nearly 15 years have passed since Maureen Fiedler SL began what has become the only national radio program centering on topics of religion and faith. Her interview with Loretto Magazine is a fascinating insight into the show’s genesis, its ongoing success . . . and the background, drive and character of that politically savvy nun on the radio, page 11. Twelve Loretto community members celebrate their Diamond, Golden and Silver Jubilees this year. Learn more about what each of them is doing today and what Loretto means to them personally, page 7.
Contents Notes & News..................................................................................4 Honoring Loretto’s 2015 Jubilarians................................................7 Maureen Fiedler SL on ‘Interfaith Radio’....................................... 11 All mission work in Loretto begins in committee ........................... 14 Remembrances............................................................................. 19 Memorials & Tributes of Honor...................................................... 21 Golfers and sponsors needed for Annual Golf Tournament.......... 24
LORETTO COMMUNITY Sisters of Loretto • Co-members of Loretto
We work for justice and act for peace because the Gospel urges us. Loretto Community members teach, nurse, care for the elderly, lobby, minister in hospitals, provide spirtual direction and counseling, resettle refugees, staff parishes, try to stop this country’s nuclear weapons build-up, work with the rural poor, and minister to handicapped, alcoholic and mentally ill adults. Our ministries are diverse. The Loretto Community, founded in 1812 as the Sisters of Loretto, is a congregation of Catholic vowed Sisters and both lay and religious Co-members. Loretto Co-members are those who, by mutual commitment, belong to the Community through sharing Loretto’s spirit and values and participating in activities that further our mission.
For more information contact: Loretto Community Membership Staff 4000 So. Wadsworth Blvd. Littleton, CO 80123-1308 Phone: 303-783-0450 Fax: 303-783-0611 Web: www.lorettocommunity.org Loretto Magazine is published three times a year by the Loretto Development Office: Development Director: Denise Ann Clifford SL Communications Director: Jean M. Schildz Data Systems Mgr./Event Coordinator: Kelly Marie Darby Editing, Layout and Production: Carolyn Dunbar Financial Accountant: Chris Molina Special Development Projects: Lydia Peña SL
Advisory Panel: Denise Ann Clifford SL Jean M. Schildz Carolyn Dunbar Rebecca Sallee-Hanson
On the front cover: In her radio studio, Maureen Fiedler SL (right) interviews pastors of two large congregations in the nation’s capital: (left) Rev. Dr. Gail Anderson Holness of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church, and (center) Rev. Graylan Hagler of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ. Photo courtesy of Interfaith Voices radio.
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Editorial Office: Loretto Central Office 4000 So. Wadsworth Blvd. Littleton, CO 80123-1308 303-783-0450, ext. 1718 Circulation Office: Loretto Staff Office 590 E. Lockwood Ave. Webster Groves, MO 63119 314-962-8112
Dear Loretto Friends,
Photo by Nicole Martinez
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don’t know what the songwriter was referring to when describing “the hazy, lazy days of summer.” Life is anything but “hazy or lazy” for Loretto this year. We have compiled, printed and mailed our Annual Financial Report, published this issue of Loretto Magazine, have completed our Loretto Assembly in St. Louis in mid-July and are ready for our 20th Annual Benefit Golf Tournament in August. We invite you to celebrate the lives of our 2015 Golden Jubilarians, the last of our large groups received and professed as a “class.” Their lives are testimonies to the unique gift each one is and brings to Loretto, the Church and our world. Loretto may not have large groups “entering the convent” these days, but we do have gifted and talented members who serve on Loretto’s many committees. The committees featured in this issue are responsible for the myriad works and projects in which Loretto is involved. In fact, the genesis of Loretto’s real “feet on the street” mission service happens at the committee level where the planning, budgeting, information-sharing, assignments, collaboration with other organizations, decision-making and accountability takes place. Perhaps you’ll be surprised to discover the ways in which our service is carried out. Last but not least, we gathered in St. Louis to pray, discern, celebrate and plan for our Loretto future. We elected leadership for our Executive Committee and Community Forum. Discussions and voting on proposals submitted by various groups and individuals, modified by the Community at large, will “pave our path” into the future. May your summer contain some of those “hazy, lazy days” to be with those you love, recreating yourself, inhaling God’s love and exhaling that same love to all who “grace” your life. Ann Clifford SL Denise
Loretto Development Director
Happy Summer! Summer 2015 • 3
notes & news
Distinguished women honored with Loretto’s Mary Rhodes Award Photos courtesy of Loretto Women’s Network
The Laywomen Employees at Loretto Motherhouse, Nerinx, Ky., whose hard work keeps Loretto moving.
“T
he Loretto Women’s Network sponsors an award for a woman or women who are not members of the Loretto Community who manifest the spirit and commitment of Mary Rhodes, the pioneer founder of the Sisters of Loretto,” wrote Co-member Judith Baenen. Nominations are received from Loretto Community members, and awardees are selected by members of the Loretto Women’s Network. As a part of the Loretto Assembly in St. Louis, four individual women and a group of women employees were honored at an awards dinner July 13. The 2015 Mary Rhodes Award recipients are: Dr. Ghazala Hayat, St. Louis, a strong advocate for educating others about women’s roles in Islam and engaging in interfaith dialogue. Simone Campbell SSS, Washington, D.C., a national leader on issues of justice and the creator of “Nuns on the Bus.”
Ghazala Hayat, left, with Mary Seematter CoL.
Simone Campbell SSS, right, with Maureen Fiedler SL.
Margaret Wheatley, Ed.D., Provo, Utah, a philosopher, consultant, president of the Berkana Institute, a global charitable leadership foundation, and self-described “agent of change.” Marcellina Otti, Denver, a Ugandan refugee who works with the disenfranchised in Denver and Uganda.
Margaret Wheatley, right, with Theresa Kinealy CoL.
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Marcellina Otti, right, with Cathy Mueller SL.
The Laywomen Employees at the Loretto Motherhouse, Nerinx., Ky., for their caring and respectful service.
notes & news Loretto novitiate class of 1965 celebrates 50th anniversary
Photo by Peg Jacobs CoL
T
he Loretto novitiate class of 1965 gathered in late May at Loretto Motherhouse, Nerinx, Ky., to celebrate 50 years of friendship and wonderful memories. “Thirteen of the participants are still directly connected to Loretto as vowed Sisters or Co-members,” said Mary Catherine Rabbitt SL, “and 13 of our former classmates are coming back. It should be a great gathering!” Insert at top right: Martha McNamara CoL
Back row from left: Cathy Mueller SL, Mary Ann Manger Benner, Mary Catherine Rabbitt SL, Barbara Roche SL, Mary Elaine Brennan Lubeley, Laurel Bryant Padgett, Barbara Mecker CoL. Second row from top: Mary Ann DeBaggio Lovett CoL, Mary Bundy CoL, Kathleen Ryan Tucker, Mary Louise Denny SL, Kathryn Kahalley Cariglino. Third row from top: Mary Margaret Murphy SL, Regina Drey SL, Gina Book, Martha Lane, Mary McAuliffe SL, Rose Marie Haberstroh Elson. Bottom row: Frankie Foy Appleby, Janet Rabideau SL, Pat Patton Peterson, Teresa Skees Nusz, Jane Barry-Davis.
Two Sisters of Loretto and two LHC alumna given Spirit of Loretto Awards
Photos courtesy of the Spirit of Loretto Committee
F
our women were recognized July 18 as outstanding alumni, former faculty and staff of Loretto Heights College, Denver. The Spirit of Loretto Committee, which grants these honors, was formed in 2002 to serve Loretto Heights alumni and to “keep the spirit of Loretto Heights College alive by perpetuating the values, heritage and traditions of LHC,” wrote the Committee members. Maureen McCormack SL, Ph.D., received the Lumen Christi Outstanding Faculty Award as an excellent and beloved member of the Loretto Heights faculty or staff. Lydia M. Peña SL, Ph.D. received the Distinguished Alumna Award along with Karol Kaltenbach, Ph.D., and Martha Downey.
Left: Jeannie Courchene (left) presents the Lumen Christi Award to Maureen McCormack SL. Right: Lydia Peña (left) and Sheri Gessert.
Summer 2015 • 5
notes & news
News in brief . . . St. Mary’s Academy holds Mass for 150th Anniversary
Photo by Carolyn Dunbar
The solar array at the Loretto Center Denver. Solar energy is an excellent alternative to fossil fuels and saves hundreds of dollars every month on the Center’s energy costs.
Sisters of Loretto vote unanimously to divest from fossil fuels on the recommendation of Loretto Earth Network and Loretto Finance Committee
O
n July 17, 2015, the elected delegates to the Assembly of the Sisters of Loretto voted unanimously to divest the congregation of all investments in fossil fuel companies. That includes coal, oil and natural gas. “In a world where fossil fuels are a leading cause of devastating climate change, endangering life on earth as we know it, it is vital that we send a message — not only with our voices but with our resources — that we will no longer seek to profit from these industries,” said Maureen Fiedler SL, a member of the Executive Committee of the Sisters of Loretto and a member of Loretto’s Earth Network Coordinating Group. In addition, the Loretto Assembly voted to encourage Co-members and friends of Loretto to do likewise and divest from fossil fuels. This resolution was in preparation since late 2014, but the new encyclical by Pope Francis — “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home” — gave the Loretto Community a boost. The encyclical does not mention divestment, but it is highly critical of fossil fuels and their devastating impact on climate change. “The problem [of global warming] is aggravated by
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a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil fuels, which is at the heart of the worldwide energy system,” Pope Francis wrote. A few paragraphs later, he said, “There is an urgent need to develop policies so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced, for example, substituting for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy.” This Loretto resolution is part of a worldwide strategy urging groups and individuals to sell off their investments in the fossil fuel industry (coal, oil, gas). The overall movement is coordinated by a group called 350.org, headed by Bill McKibben. The religious effort is led by Green Faith, an interfaith environmental group led by Rev. Fletcher Harper, an Episcopal priest. “In the Loretto Community, our move to divest is already underway. We are proud to join the ranks of religious groups that have decided to divest. With the world literally hovering on the brink of climate disaster, it is the least we can do,” said Kathy Wright SL, Loretto treasurer.
On April 19 St. Mary’s Academy (SMA) held a school-wide Mass at the Bishop Evans Sports Center on campus. Families, friends and graduating students were invited to gather the occasion of SMA’s 150th year. The school opened in 1864 in Denver. The 2014-2015 school year was designated as the period in which the sesquicentennial would be honored, studied, reviewed and recorded in various media using different methods. The Mass was celebrated as the anniversary year was coming to a close.
Kansas City Academy celebrates 30th anniversary By Kathy Baldwin-Heitman CoL
Kansas City Academy, a small, independent middle and high school, enjoyed a 30-year anniversary celebration May 30. Several KCA faculty members were honored at the ceremonies, including Martha Fly CoL, founding principal; Mary Statz and Anne Goldkamp, both KCA co-founders and former teachers at Loretto in Kansas City; Carole Eschen SL, KCA’s math and science teacher for 29 years; Kathy Baldwin-Heitman CoL, current Kansas City Academy principal and head of school; and Mary Leibman CoL, former facilities manager, now deceased.
Webster University honors Carole Eschen SL as a ‘centennial educator’
At an educational conference June 12 sponsored by Webster University, Webster Groves, Mo., and as part of its centennial celebration, Carol Eschen SL was honored for her long teaching career. She has taught for more than 50 years, most recently at Kansas City (Mo.) Academy of Learning, where since 1986 she has taught — and still teaches — middle school mathematics and science and high school biology.
An even dozen Loretto Community members reach important milestones as Diamond, Golden and Silver Jubilarians 2015 Loretto Jubilarians Diamond - 75 Years Carolyn Ann Wheat SL
Golden - 50 Years Mary Louise Denny SL Regina Drey SL Joy Jensen SL Mary McAuliffe SL Cathy Mueller SL Mary Margaret Murphy SL Mary Catherine Rabbitt SL Janet Rabideau SL Barbara Roche SL
Silver - 25 years Diamond Jubilarian Carolyn Ann Wheat SL has lived 75 years as a Sister of Loretto. Here she works in the back yard garden of the home she and Sue Charmley SL shared in Albuquerque, N.M., for many years. Both Sisters have recently moved to Loretto, Ky.
Golden Jubilarian Joy Jensen SL enjoys life at Loretto Motherhouse, Nerinx, Ky.
Trish Dunn CoL Jane German CoL
Golden Jubilarian Janet Rabideau SL smiles among the blossoms in the Motherhouse chapel. She also lives at the Motherhouse and recently retired from many years of service as Loretto assistant archivist.
Summer 2015 • 7
Mary Louise Denny SL 2015 Golden Jubilarian
Regina Drey SL 2015 Golden Jubilarian
Trish Dunn CoL 2015 Silver Jubilarian
I’ve always loved to fish. Notice the water, watch the flow. Choose just the right combination of line, hook, bait. Think like a fish. Patience with excitement; easy-handed anticipation. Some days can be long without a nibble; some, full of energy and surprises.
For the past several years I have been historian and director of Loretto projects at St. Mary’s Academy (SMA), work that combines passions and skills I’ve developed over my 34 years at SMA, initially in teaching and then in communications.
I have a practice in spiritual direction and pastoral counseling in my home and have found it very satisfying. I also belong to two supervisory groups that meet monthly for sharing and support. Also, I am a tutor for my granddaughter, Brittany, a Colorado Christian University student who is working very diligently to become a nurse.
Somehow, life in Loretto resembles fishing, I think. Whether I am the fish or the fisher, there is always hope and a constant change of flow. Whether I am alone on the shore or with companions in the water, I am grateful for the life I’ve chosen in Loretto.
Mary Louise started her fishing career early in life. Her brother shares the lake.
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As part of SMA’s 150th anniversary this year, I was privileged to collaborate on a commemorative book, write a blog, conduct tours and be involved in other activities that deepened my appreciation for the Loretto legacy we carry forward. I love digging — whether into history, a garden or a good book. My first experience with Loretto was as a student at Bishop Toolen High School, a diocesan school in Mobile, Ala. Like many students today, I chose the school — not for any lofty reasons — but because my friends were going there. Once at Toolen I found a community filled with smart, caring Sisters of Loretto who genuinely enjoyed working with young people. I was drawn to Loretto because of their sense of community and enthusiasm for life. I am forever indebted to them, especially to Kathleen O’Malley SL, knowing the things that enrich my life today were nurtured there. Because of the diversity of issues that Community members engage in, Loretto continues to expand my world view and challenges me to be attentive to the needs of the Earth and to people everywhere.
My husband Joseph and I are actively involved in supporting our two Colorado grandchildren in their schooling and activities. We are celebrating our 50th anniversary at the end of the year with our two children and four grandchildren. I became acquainted with Loretto in the late 1980s. Through a mutual friend, I met Maureen McCormack SL. She introduced me to a number of Lorettos. I also traveled with Maureen to several Loretto assemblies. I was invited to work on the staff at the old St. Joseph building on the Loretto Heights campus and continued to meet Loretto vowed Sisters and Co-members. I’ve formed a number of friendships which have lasted many years. I have been impressed with Loretto Community members as strong, independent and caring people who advance their views in a gentle but determined way. I have seen Loretto Community members as models of how peace and justice may be fostered throughout the world in a variety of ways.
Jane German CoL 2015 Silver Jubilarian
Mary McAuliffe SL 2015 Golden Jubilarian
Cathy Mueller SL 2015 Golden Jubilarian
I took advantage of my retirement to become Loretto Academy’s Elementary School principal in 2003, trying to live out the four Loretto values of faith, community, justice and respect. I have spent the last 12 years in El Paso surrounded by a rich Loretto faith community active in education, participating in local fundraisers and addressing border and social justice issues as well as serving on the Pakistan Committee.
My days are filled with many blessings. I’m in touch with many students I taught at Mission Viejo Elementary School in Aurora, Colo. My neighbors are also a great source of joy for me in our multicultural, multigenerational area. I am involved in a few parish-related ministries that give me great joy. I’m preparing a couple of children for their first communion this summer. I also visit elderly folks from the parish whom I’ve known and loved for many years. My family gets together often, and I am so grateful they always include me in the gatherings. The Bridge Community, a group home for eight adult women with developmental disabilities, continues, even after 30 years, to be of prime importance in my life.
My life has been filled with amazing experiences that have led me to be who I am now. I have taught high school, done pastoral work in multicultural parishes, led retreats, facilitated workshops and meetings, directed volunteers in a hospice, co-founded and co-directed EarthLinks, a non-profit in Denver serving persons who are homeless or economically poor, served Loretto on the staff, on various committees and in elected leadership. The thread that weaves through all these experiences is building community, a space where all people are respected, valued and encouraged to become their own unique selves.
From quiet evenings and peaceful weekends, my life was changed forever when I met Angela Bianco SL. And through her, I began my journey into the Loretto Community. I met many wonderful Loretto members who came to Thoreau, N.M., to help out with the Gathering Place reaching out to the Navajo families. I took road trips to help sell Native American items, helped young campers to gather up firewood for the elders and began to take stands on different social issues. For about 10 years I remained a friend of Loretto, but as I continued to talk with Loretto members and participate in Loretto gatherings, I slowly felt an urging deep within to be more than a friend and become a Co-member. Through the Loretto Community I have met and developed many rich relationships who have encouraged me to participate and serve wherever I’m needed.
Born in Denver to loving and religious parents, I attended Loretto schools throughout my primary and high school years. I entered the Sisters of Loretto after graduating from Loretto Heights College, and was missioned to teach at St. Mary’s Academy in Englewood, Colo., where I made first vows. Thinking of my life apart from Loretto isn’t really possible because through my education and being in the Community, Loretto allowed me to teach at a time when so many were pursuing other professions. For me, education was the only means of concretely changing the world, one person at a time.
Sisters of Loretto taught me in elementary and high school. I began to experience a significant shift in my life in the novitiate where we were encouraged to work in situations new to me — with migrant farmworkers, the Crusade for Justice and even participating in the Poor People’s March on Washington. I began to learn the difference between charity and justice, which has changed my life. I also began to appreciate silence, contemplation, the richness of Scripture and the reality of the Holy Spirit active in my life and in others. In my 50 years in the Community, I have come to appreciate the connectedness with all creation that has shifted many of my perceptions, giving meaning to the Great Work of my life. I have been loved and challenged. I am forever grateful. Summer 2015 • 9
Mary Margaret Murphy SL 2015 Golden Jubilarian
Mary Catherine Rabbitt SL 2015 Golden Jubilarian
Barbara Roche SL 2015 Golden Jubilarian
I am a case manager at El Paso Villa Maria, a beautiful, safe shelter for women who are homeless. It is my privilege to be present, encourage, support, challenge and celebrate with our guests. I assist them to access the essential services they each need on their journey from crisis to healing.
I currently serve as the Legal Assistance Developer for the Older Americans Act Program for the State of Colorado, under a contract between Disability Law Colorado and the State Unit on Aging. In that role, I supervise, evaluate and offer training and technical assistance to lawyers across Colorado who help seniors with their civil legal concerns. I have been in that position since June 2008. Before that, I served as Loretto’s President from 2001 to 2007 and took a sabbatical year after that. From 1984 to 2000, I worked as a staff attorney for Colorado Legal Services, specializing in health and elder law.
I am working in St. Louis at Marian Middle School, founded 15 years ago by a collaboration of eight communities of Sisters, including the Sisters of Loretto. We serve girls from low-income families and prepare them for success in high school, college and beyond. I am in charge of recruiting and admissions, volunteer coordination and connecting families to the summer learning program. I also assist with the graduate support program. Having been involved in the founding of Marian, it is exciting to be here to see our dreams come true every day.
How did I become interested in Loretto? As a high school student I thought: “Thank you, God, not me,” when some of my classmates at Machebeuf High School, Denver, talked about going to the Loretto novitiate. And here I am 50 years later celebrating my Golden Jubilee as a vowed Sister. It was the faith, spirit, joy and dedication of the Sisters that drew me to them and their way of life. Loretto has gifted me with an ongoing discovery of who God is in my life and what this calls me to. Loretto has stretched me to an awareness of a preferential option for the poor and what it means to act for peace and work for justice. In addition, my life has been forever changed because of what I learned from the people I was blessed to be with in Taos, N.M.; Rawlins, Wyo.; Pueblo and La Jara, Colo.; and El Paso, Texas. I am also grateful for the deep bonds of connectedness and friendship I experience within the Loretto community.
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I first met the Sisters of Loretto in 1951 in kindergarten at Immaculate Conception School in St. Louis. Mary Donald Burns SL was my first teacher. After eighth grade, I attended Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves, Mo. It was at Nerinx that I truly became drawn to Loretto; I was attracted to the communal life that the Sisters shared. Loretto has been and continues to be central in my life — through mission, community and spirituality. I used to say that the title of my autobiography would be, “Forever Young, My Life in Loretto.” It is amazing to me that it has been 50 years since I was received in the community! It has been a wonderful life — filled with many opportunities for education, international travel and leadership within and outside the community.
Outside of work, I enjoy gardening and cooking, and I’m always reading a book, usually a mystery. I met my first Sister of Loretto, Ann Mary Schilling SL, when my family moved to Mary Queen of Peace parish when I was going into second grade. I completed grade school at Mary Queen of Peace, Webster Groves, Mo., and then went to nearby Nerinx Hall for high school. It was there that I really connected with the Sisters who were my teachers. They inspired me to want to get more involved. I have grown up in Loretto. The Community has supported and challenged me to think and do things I couldn’t have imagined I would do. Loretto has taught me to face the future with hope and a sense of adventure. This has influenced the way I work and the way I live my life.
Through radio, Maureen Fiedler SL provides a welcoming forum for people of all faith traditions A person of deep faith and an activist from an early age, Maureen Fiedler SL, now 72, has put her wellspring of natural energy into a lifetime of justice and peace advocacy, and the results have been delightful. These life experiences now inform her national public radio show, “Interfaith Voices,” produced in Washington, D.C. Nearing its 15th anniversary, the program has built both a legacy and a future for fascinating discussions with a broad spectrum of religious and even non-faith-based leaders from across the globe.
Q
How did you, as a young woman with a traditional Catholic education and an early vocation to join the Sisters of Mercy in Erie, Pa., develop an interest in social and political activism?
A
I’m from Lockport, N.Y., near Buffalo and Niagara Falls, where I attended St. Patrick’s School and DeSales High School. From there I went to Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa. When beginning my junior year, I entered the Sisters of Mercy in Erie and finished my college degree. I taught high school social studies in Erie and then for four years at St. Justin High School in Pittsburgh. One summer, I traveled to rural South Carolina where I lived and worked with very poor African Americans. That experience had a profound effect on me and stuck with me for my entire life. In the fall of 1970, I began graduate school at Georgetown University, a Jesuit university, where I did both an M.A. and Ph.D. in government and political science. Toward the end of my time at Georgetown, I met a Jesuit, Bill Callahan, and Dolly Pomerleau, who were founding something new called the Quixote Center, a justice center. Literally, they wanted to dream impossible dreams and chase windmills! That meant taking on impossible causes other people would think twice about. That sounded good to me! One of the first issues we tackled was the ordination of women in the Catholic Church.
Q
The ordination of women is a serious and still controversial issue. What did you think about this?
A
Maybe I can best answer that question by telling you a story. When I was a high school senior, I was in a co-ed Catholic high school that was a new merger of a girls’ school and boys’ school. Senior year came, and I was the valedictorian. The principal, who was a priest, called me into his office to tell me I could not give the valedictory speech because I was a girl! This was 1960. The second wave of the women’s movement hadn’t yet come, but I knew this was wrong. My mother advised me, “Do not get in a fight with a priest,” but I decided that this was wrong and unjust, and I had to act. I went back to the principal’s office and said, “Father, this is wrong and unjust, and it’s going to look perfectly terrible on the front page of our newspaper.” Even then I knew the power of media. The long and short of it — he caved in, and I gave the speech! So, of course I supported the involvement of the Quixote Center in the struggle to ordain women in the Catholic Church. It is a fundamental issue of justice and gender equality. But I was very interested in women’s rights across the board, and the struggle for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) going on then. In 1978, I co-founded Catholics Act for ERA. We organized in many states where the ERA had not been ratified — Illinois, Nevada, Missouri and places with reasonably large Catholic populations. At the end of that struggle, I was one of eight women who fasted for 37 days in Springfield, Ill., as a witness. We were not successful at that time, but I believe we still need to ratify the ERA legally. However, in my lifetime, the ERA has gone a long way toward being culturally ratified. My formal ERA work ended in 1982 when the early struggle for ratification ended. But it will be back!
Summer 2015 • 11
Q A
So your activism has focused primarily on women’s issues?
Partly. If there’s a deep concern that runs through me, it’s my dismay at continued discrimination of all kinds — the failure to treat human beings as people of dignity regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. We are equal human beings and loved by God and need to be treated as such. At some time in the late 1970s and 1980s, the Quixote Center became involved in an emerging struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. Jeannine Gramick (then a School Sister of Notre Dame who later transferred to Loretto) came to the Quixote Center in the 1970s, shortly after I did. Her work, called New Ways Ministry, started at the Quixote Center. It was, to put it mildly, controversial. At that time, my community, the Sisters of Mercy, was really nervous about this just because the Center took it on as an issue. I began to look for another community. I found Loretto, came to an assembly and soon began the transfer process. I never looked back and never regretted it. The Sisters of Mercy, however, have changed a lot today. As I fasted for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and was in the process of becoming a Sister of Loretto, I received Loretto’s Mary Rhodes Award for my work on the ERA.
Q A
Maureen, third from right, as part of an interfaith panel in Fredericksburg, Va
So when did radio broadcasting enter the picture?
In the 1980s and 1990s, my parents were sick and dying in western New York. I would travel up there frequently, driving through long areas of rural Pennsylvania. I had the radio on in the car to help stay awake. In spots, all I could get was so-called Christian radio. I found it intolerant, preachy and focused on sexual issues. I never heard anything about justice and peace or help for the poor. I began to realize that this was what passed for “religious” radio. I knew I had a halfway decent voice, so I decided to do something about it. I began by doing commentaries for WAMU, a large National Public Radio affiliate in Washington, D.C., and later for National Public Radio itself. One day, I called them up and said, “I’ve got a commentary. Are you interested?” The producer said, “Come and let’s hear 12 • Loretto Magazine
Maureen, center, and her Interfaith Voices staff with two Afghan clerics who Kwerel, far left, is senior producter, and Mallory Daily, second from left, is as
a., earlier this year. Photos courtesy of Interfaith Voices radio.
visited the program at the behest of the State Department in March. Laura ssistant producer and a Loretto volunteer.
what you sound like.” So I did a test commentary with them; they said, “Sounds good, we’ll air it.” I did several three-minute commentaries. Then, I thought: I need to do a complete radio show. So I met with some seasoned producers, and we started a commercial radio show called “Faith Matters.” We were heard on a grand total of four stations nationwide. It was a call-in show, live on weekends, but it didn’t work. In 2001, my producers and I decided, “We need to think about public radio.” Then 9/11 happened. That was a Tuesday, and by that Saturday we had organized a three-hour test program on religion and terrorism. I had a number of multifaith guests all evening. A rabbi named David Saperstein was a guest. He came into the studio with a press release from himself and another rabbi. It summed up how I felt. He said, “We are Jews. We know what it is for a whole people to be blamed for the actions of a few. We see that happening to our Muslims brothers and sisters today, and we will not stand for it. We are here to say that we stand with them in this hour of trial.” I was moved to tears. In fact, Rabbi Saperstein has been recently appointed by President Obama as U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom. That was September 2001. By March 2002 we launched “Interfaith Voices.” It is an hour-long “produced” show. We are currently the only public radio show exclusively about religion. We do not preach or proselytize and are not affiliated with any religious organization. We are an independent public radio program, which means we produce and distribute the show ourselves.
Q A
What specifically are you trying to accomplish with “Interfaith Voices”?
We strive to educate the public about the religious and ethical issues behind the headlines. We explore the mystery of spiritual experience by welcoming guests and listeners from a wide diversity of traditions, including those with no religion. We promote dialogue, especially on contentious moral topics, and present many faith traditions and points of view. The program helps to spread interfaith understanding and an appreciation of people of all traditions or no traditions. As you look at the world today, nothing seems more important than learning and understanding the faith traditions of others ... So part of what we try to do on “Interfaith Voices” is to give a fair and balanced look at all the religious traditions of the world.
Summer 2015 • 13
Community is for MISSION, and mission BUILDS community:
Loretto’s committees and networks at work By Eileen Harrington CoL
WORK FOR JUSTICE
ACT for PEACE STOP HUNGER EMPOWER WOMEN
Teach the Children
BUILD COMMUNITIES Meet a NEED Save the Earth advocate for HUMAN RIGHTS PROVIDE CRISIS RELIEF 14 • Loretto Magazine
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hroughout our 200-plusyear history, members of the Loretto Community have carried out our mission through work in schools and a wide array of institutions and organizations. Serving as educators, health-care providers, artists, administrators, social workers, spiritual companions, pastoral ministers, lawyers, counselors, organizers and in a host of other roles, Loretto Community members have lived our mission to act for peace and work for justice. In addition to the “day jobs” described above, many Loretto Community members also volunteer for additional mission work by serving on one or more of Loretto’s committees and networks. Up to the 1970s, the Sisters of Loretto were assigned to schools and lived together in convents. Since the 1970s, the Loretto Community has included vowed Sisters and Co-members. All members choose their work and living arrangements, and Loretto Community members live throughout the United States, in Pakistan, and in several other countries. Loretto’s committees and networks — described in this article — extend the reach of Loretto’s mission work and provide Loretto Community members with opportunities to join together in mission work and build community with one another and our nearer and farther neighbors.
Over the decades, Loretto has created committees to carry out specific priority missions. As priorities change, or missions are accomplished, some committees have been retired. Today, the Loretto Community supports 10 committees and networks that advance specific Loretto mission work: The Investment Committee, which, in coordination with other socially concerned investors, monitors the effects of business practices and policies and recommends strategic investments in corporate and nonprofit entities; The Hunger Fund Allocation Committee, which since 1974 has made an annual distribution of money donated to Loretto’s Hunger Fund to groups and individuals who feed the hungry; The Special Needs Committee, which makes grants to innovative socialchange projects from a special fund representing a portion of Loretto’s annual operating budget; The Loretto Committee for Peace, which is responsible for general Community peace education, and represents Loretto in the large and complex work of peace in this world; The Latin America/Caribbean Committee, which raises the Community’s awareness of injustices and human rights abuses in these
countries, and works for immigration reform and justice for immigrants and refugees;
them in both the mystery and miracle of creation and the crisis that threatens our universe;
The Pakistan Committee, which supports Loretto’s mission in Pakistan and promotes learning, understanding, and community between North American and Pakistani Loretto Community members;
The Loretto Women’s Network, a voluntary association of women and men within Loretto who are committed to act for the empowerment of women.
The Sister Community Committee for Ghana, which supports our “sister community” relationship with the Daughters of the Most Blessed Trinity of Kumasa, Ashanti, Ghana; The Sister Community Committee for Guatemala, which supports our “sister community” relationship with the Holy Family Sisters of Guatemala; The Loretto Earth Network, a voluntary association of Loretto Community members that educates its members and all who would join
Latin America/Caribbean Committee By Carolyn Jaramillo CoL and Eileen Harrington CoL
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his July at the 2015 Loretto Assembly, the Latin America/Caribbean Committee (LACC) celebrated its 30year anniversary. The committee was established by the 1985 Loretto Assembly at the request of Sisters who had served in ministries in Latin America and their supporters.
The Loretto Community establishes committees through a formal process of discussion and agreement. Loretto Community leadership appoints committee members for fixed terms from those Community members who apply for appointment. The networks were created at the initiative of Community members, and are voluntary associations. The networks direct their work through volunteer coordinating groups. By supporting the committees and networks, the Loretto Community makes a corporate statement about
the priority of the committee or network’s specific area of work. Loretto committees act on behalf of the Loretto Community. Members of Loretto’s committees and networks meet regularly to plan and carry out their work. They sometimes travel to take action on behalf of Loretto. They collaborate with other organizations that share Loretto’s priorities; educate the Loretto Community and sometimes the wider world on important issues of the day; organize actions in support of mission priorities; and often join with other Loretto committees and networks to work on issues of mutual concern. People in the process of becoming Loretto Co-members, current and former Loretto volunteers, and other friends of Loretto work as adjunct members or in other ways to share the work of Loretto’s committees and networks, and in this way strengthen their bonds of community.
U.S.-Mexico border to give aid and support to undocumented refugees who are detained and turned back, and to witness conditions there. Through this effort, LACC members educate others about the plight of undocumented refugees at our border. This year’s border experience is October 9-11. You can support this mission work with financial contributions, donation of supplies and prayers.
The committee was established “to heighten awareness, further education and suggest active involvement in issues and needs” of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean. Over the past 30 years that mission has evolved to include farmworker and immigration issues.
Current committee members continue to inform the Community about the impact of U.S. policies on Latin American and Caribbean countries through articles in the Loretto membership newsletter Interchange, on the Loretto website and in Community mailings.
The Latin America/Caribbean Committee is currently educating the Loretto Community and friends on the need for comprehensive immigration law reform and leading Loretto’s action on this important human rights concern. LACC also organizes an annual trip to the
LACC is grateful to the many Community members who have faithfully responded to their many “calls to action” by participating in letter-writing campaigns to Congress and corporations; demonstrations and rallies; lobbying; and trips to the U.S./ Mexican border.
Left: Natalie Wing SL on market day with native Guatemalans. She spent several years in that country doing mission work for the Loretto Latin America/Caribbean Committee. LACC invites everyone to celebrate their 30-year anniversary by paying tribute to Loretto members who have served and continue to serve in ministries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Summer 2015 • 15
Photo by Marie Ego SL
Sisters of Loretto enjoy time with their Sister Community in Guatemala City, the Holy Family Sisters, or as they are known in Guatemala, La Sagrada Familia.
The Loretto Guatemala Sister Community Committee By Eileen Harrington
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he Loretto Community and the Holy Family Sisters (La Sagrada Familia) of Guatemala established a relationship of sisterhood in 1994 in order to enrich one another spiritually and culturally and to support one another in the mission and work of each congregation. Since then, Loretto Co-members and sisters have visited HFS schools, worked with HFS sisters in their missions and participated in regional conferences and meetings in Guatemala. HSF sisters have attended Loretto assemblies, visited Loretto centers and joined with Loretto Community members at the U.N. and at the U.S. capitol to discuss environmental, mining and immigration policies. Recent and upcoming work of the Guatemala Sister Community Committee includes: Meeting in Washington, D.C., with members of Congress about the environmental destruction and economic hardship caused in Guatemala by U.S. and North American mining companies using extractive processes. Joining with Loretto Mission Activities Team members to educate members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, about the plight of Guatemalans immigrating to the U.S. to escape violence in their country, and to urge immigration reform. A 10-day fundraising training program in Denver for HSF Sisters and other Central American advocacy groups, presented by Loretto Co-member Kim Klein and others.
16 • Loretto Magazine
Photo by Ruth Routten CoL
Children raise the sign of welcome for Loretto Community members and honored guests who attended the opening day of the Blessed Trinity Leadership Academy in Ghana, West Africa.
The Ghana Sister Community Committee By Eileen Harrington CoL
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he Loretto Sister Community relationship with the Daughters of the Most Blessed Trinity, Filae Sanctissimae Trinitatis (FST) of Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana, West Africa, began with Sisters of Loretto Marie Ego and Pauline Albin. With the support of the FST Sisters, their founder, Archbishop Peter K .Sarpong, sent a letter in May 1999 to the Loretto Community introducing the FST Sisters and recommending a sister-community relationship. In February 2002, acting on the recommendation of an ad hoc group, the Executive Committee appointed a Loretto Sister Community Committee for Ghana. At the Loretto Assembly 2006, the Loretto Community affirmed our sister relationship. The purpose of the Ghana Sister Community Committee is to develop a mutual respect of each other’s work, dedication to changing structures of domination and oppression, working together for the common good and expanding our understanding of religious life and mission within a deeper multicultural context. The FST sisters were founded to work with “the poorest of the poor in rural areas.” Education was seen as a major way out of poverty. We have supported and worked collaboratively to obtain grants to provide transport vehicles to work in remote villages. Loretto and FST have worked together, writing grants and fundraising, to establish the Blessed Trinity Leadership Academy and to provide higher education for the FST sisters.
A mother and son have shelter, food and more day-to-day stability with help, in part, from Loretto’s Special Needs Fund.
Special Needs Committee By Ruth Routten CoL
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he Loretto Community provides grants to nonprofit organizations and emergency financial assistance to individuals and families through the Special Needs Fund, which comes from a percentage of Loretto’s annual operating budget. The Special Needs Fund receives more than a dozen requests for each of the two funding cycles in the spring and in the fall. Emergency assistance may be granted for up to $500. Social change grants for specific projects may be granted up to $7,500. Current committee members are Sue Rogers SL, Angela Bianco SL, Martha Alderson CoL, Matt Myers CoL and Ruth Routten CoL. Applications and guidelines may be found on the Loretto Community Members website under the Loretto Resources Directory. Some of the projects recently funded include one in Uganda where women use the proceeds from their catering business to send girls to school. EarthLinks, the Denver urban non-profit founded by Cathy Mueller SL, which helps low-income and homeless persons, has also received funding. If you know someone or an organization that needs help and meets the Loretto guidelines, please feel free to make a request on their behalf to the Special Needs Committee. This project is a wonderful example of Loretto reaching out into the communities where we live and serve.
Loretto Earth Network By Eileen Harrington
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Photos courtesy of Loretto Earth Network
he Loretto Earth Network (LEN) exists to educate and alert its members and all who would join them in both the mystery and miracle of creation and the crisis that threatens our universe. To carry out its mission, LEN . . . . . . publishes a quarterly newsletter to 800-plus recipients; . . . maintains a list-serve to educate subscribers and mobilize direct action and advocacy; . . .participates with others in demonstrations and advocacy; and . . . holds regular meetings to educate attendees on important topics of concern. LEN’s major focus is climate change. LEN members and other Lorettos participated in the September 2014 Peoples Climate Change March in New York City and local marches in Denver and St. Louis. LEN collaborated with the Loretto Finance Committee on proposals to divest from fossil fuels. Also, the network recently provided the DVD program, “The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism and Community,” for viewing at all major Loretto centers and Loretto-affiliated schools. With the Loretto Women’s Network, LEN sponsored a February 2015 conference in Denver, “Sacred Economics: Where Our Heart Is, There Is Our Treasure.” LEN members are currently planning widespread educational efforts around “Laudato Si,” Pope Francis’s encyclical on climate change.
Above: Panelists address the LEN-LWN Winter 2015 meeting at the Denver Loretto Center. From left: Lisi Krall, Kim Klein CoL, and keynoter Mary Hunt.
Loretto Women’s Network The Loretto Women’s Network (LWN) is a network within the Loretto Community. It is a voluntary association of Loretto women and men who are committed to act for the empowerment of women. LWN members work toward transforming institutional, personal and structural relationships based on domination and subordination, both within the Loretto Community and beyond it. LWN members act privately or publicly whenever they feel they can make a difference in achieving rights for women in church and society. The network sponsors a winter meeting open to anyone interested to explore ways of furthering the purposes. Often there is a summer meeting as well. During national Loretto meetings, LWN presents the Mary Rhodes Award to selected non-Loretto women who have worked for women’s rights.
Co-member Theresa Kubasack entertains with voice and guitar.
Below: Meetings are a time to gather with friends. From left: Sisters Mary Nelle Gage and I.T. Marquez; Co-members Roxanne Monterastelli and Lisa Reynolds; and Comembers Sally Dunne and Alice Kitchen.
Summer 2015 • 17
The Pakistan Committee
The Loretto Committee for Peace
Adapted from information prepared by Cathy Mueller SL
By Eileen Harrington
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he Pakistan Committee works very hard in support of the Loretto Mission in Faisalabad, Pakistan. At present, the Mission is undertaken by three Sisters of Loretto who are Pakistani natives: Maria and Nasreen Daniel, who are also natural sisters, and Samina Iqbal. In 2009 they began Loretto’s new Pakistan mission where they have been engaged in several different works. At the behest of the Bishop of the Faisalabad Diocese, they have worked at St. Albert’s School in a poor area of the city, where nearly 400 students from primary level to tenth grade are taught by 13 teachers. The Sisters help administer the school and provide inservice training workshops for teachers at the school and other locations throughout the Faisalabad Diocese.
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he mission of the Loretto Community is to act for peace and work for justice. Loretto’s means for carrying its mission forward are as numerous and varied as its members, and many members engage in peace work. The Loretto Committee for Peace was created by resolution of the Loretto Community’s 2012 Assembly. It is responsible for general peace education work within Loretto, representing Loretto in the large and complex work for peace in this world, and encouraging Loretto Community members to engage in peace work within themselves and externally.
While in the United States, Maria and Samina trained extensively in solar panel installation, a skill that has proven to be a great asset due to the shortage of electricity in Pakistan. Solar energy is a reliable source to power fans, lights, refrigerators, computers and other equipment requiring electricity. Thus far, Maria and Samina have coordinated the installation of solar panels in eight different locations in Pakistan, and plan to expand their work in the future. Nasreen Daniel SL brings her knowledge and training through giving workshops for catechists, deacons, teachers, as well as teaching in the Diocesan seminary. She also coordinates the Justice and Peace Committee in the Faisalabad Diocese.
The Peace Committee’s recent and planned activities include: Participating in the United Nation’s five-year review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
Nasreen transferred to Loretto from another community of Catholic religious women some years ago, and is a fully vowed Sister of Loretto. Maria and Samina were recently approved for final vows in the Sisters of Loretto. They celebrated this joyous milestone with the Community at the Loretto Motherhouse, Nerinx, Ky., Aug. 8.
Educating the Loretto Community about, and advocating for, the U.N.’s International Arms Trade Treaty Lobbying members of Congress in support of gun control, nuclear disarmament and reduction in military spending Educating Loretto and others about gun violence and gun control Creating the Loretto Lenten Peace Calendar, which helps Community members and others focus on peace activities during Lent Offering a peace retreat for Community members at large Loretto Centers Educating and advocating about police violence Attending the vigil opposing nuclear weapons at the Los Alamos National Labs in New Mexico Coordinating Loretto’s involvement in the International Day of Peace
18 • Loretto Magazine
From left: Sisters Nasreen Daniel, Samina Iqbal and Maria Daniel.
The Pakistani Sisters generally return to the United States during the summer months to spend time with their fellow Lorettos and to participate in Community-wide meetings such as the Loretto General Assembly in July. The Pakistan Endowment was established to support Loretto’s Pakistan Mission and the Sisters in perpetuity. With generous support from a host of donors, the fund has grown to more than $800,000, well on the way to the goal of raising $1 million, for which the Pakistan Committee expresses its sincere gratitude to every contributor.
The Pakistan Committee met recently at the Denver Loretto Center. Joining via television was Kathleen Tighe SL. From far left moving around the table front to back: Barbara Nicholas SL, Cathy Mueller SL, Helen Santamaria SL, Mary Helen Sandoval CoL, unidentified guest, Lydia Peña SL, Jane German CoL and Mary Ann Lovett CoL. Photo by Nicole Martinez.
loretto community members to remember
Harriet ‘Tip’ Altmix CoL
January 31, 1921 — March 15, 2015
Harriet Elizabeth Barker was born in Denver to Charles and Harriet Barker and grew up the sixth of seven children. She loved learning and graduated from St. Francis de Sales High School when she was only 16. Known as Tip, she attended Loretto Heights College in Denver for three years, studying drama. She would return there almost 30 years later to complete her degree and graduate with honors. In the meantime, Tip met and married Dr. Richard Altmix in 1941, and immediately started their family, which would become Tip’s life work. They successfully raised nine children. She was active in Saint Mary’s parish, Littleton, Colo. She is missed by her 31 grandchildren and 39 great-grandchildren. Tip was 94 years old at the time of her death and in her 38th year as a Loretto Co-member.
Martha Jane Belke SL
October 24, 1927 — April 12, 2015
Martha Belke’s life began in Louisville, Ky., the sixth of seven girls born to Mary Catherine Huff Belke and John Phillip Belke. She and her sisters attended St. Benedict’s Parochial School where they were taught by the Sisters of Loretto. Although her older sisters went on to Loretto Academy, a Loretto high school in Louisville, Martha departed the tradition, attending Presentation Academy with the Charity Sisters. But as her high school years drew to a close, she declared her intention to join the Sisters of Loretto after graduation in 1945, and indeed she was welcomed and received into Loretto as Sister Mary Joel in 1946. Two years later, after making her first vows, Martha began several teaching assignments in Colorado, Illinois, Texas and New Mexico until 1962 when she was released to study at Nazareth College, Louisville, earning her A.B. degree in 1962. A 36-year distinguished career teaching science and math and serving as assistant principal followed at Montgomery Catholic High, Montgomery, Ala. She moved to Loretto Motherhouse, Nerinx, Ky., in 1998, working in the finance office for 10 years before retiring. Martha was 87 years old at the time of her death and just a few days short of her 69th year as a Sister of Loretto.
Detailed remembrances may be viewed on the Loretto website:
www.lorettocommunity.org
Continued on p. 20
Summer 2015 • 19
loretto community members to remember
Marie Joann Rekart SL
March 19, 1937 — July 4, 2015
Joyce Rose Rekart was born in Brentwood, Mo., to parents John Edward Rekart and Annabelle Rickard Rekart and siblings John, age 4, and Jacqueline, age 2. Joyce attended St. Mary Magdalen parish school in Brentwood taught by the Dominican Sisters. Her high school years were spent at Eugene Coyle Catholic High School with the Ursuline Sisters. She was just 18 years old when she entered Loretto in 1955, was received the following year, taking the name Sister Marie Joann, which she kept throughout her life. She earned her A.B. degree in elementary education at Webster College, Webster Groves, Mo., in 1960, and her master’s degree in special education in 1972 from Northern Illinois University. Marie Joann was a skilled, talented elementary school teacher, beginning a 32-year teaching career at St. Philomena’s in Denver in 1960. She taught at St. Peter in Rockford. Ill., and from 1969 to 1992 at St. Mary’s Academy in Englewood, Colo. The next 12 years brought a big departure from teaching as Marie Joann took a position in Deer Creek Canyon, Colo., operating Jesus Our Hope Hermitage for Fr. Roger Mollison. She then moved to the Denver Loretto Center in 2006 and continued to work for the Community as staff office receptionist and on the membership outreach team. She moved to the Motherhouse in 2014 where she died at 78 years old and in her 59th year as a Sister of Loretto.
Michelle Tooley CoL
January 31, 1953 — May 26, 2015
Michelle Tooley was born in Lufkin, Texas, the oldest of four children. She moved with her parents to small towns in Texas and Louisiana following her father’s work. As an undergraduate student at Northwest Baptist University in Natchitoches, La., Michelle discovered a major interest in social justice issues and committed herself to direct action for social justice. She earned her master’s of divinity degree in 1982 and her Ph.D. in Christian social ethics in 1994 from Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Texas. During these years Michelle completed mission trips to Mexico, Haiti, Guatemala and inner cities in the United States. She became acquainted with Loretto on retreat at Knob’s Haven at the Motherhouse, Nerinx, Ky. She was accepted as a Loretto Co-member in 2002. A year later she left her position as associate professor of religion at Belmont University in Nashville to become the Eli Lilly professor of religion and associate professor of peace and social justice at Berea College in eastern Kentucky. She was 62 years old at the time of her death following a prolonged illness, and in her 13th year as a Loretto Co-member.
20 • Loretto Magazine
gifts
Memorials and Tributes of Honor February — May 2015 In Memory of: Requested by:
Mr. & Mrs. Don Aldrich Valerie & Albert Antoine Harriet (Tip) Altmix* Theresa Kinealy* Fr. Marty Lally* The Loretto Community Lydia Peña SL Mary & John Antoine Valerie & Albert Antoine Tom Barrett The Loretto Community Martha Belke SL Susan & David Bischof Kathleen & Michael Dicken Janet & Ronald Ketterer The Loretto Community Rebecca & Randolph Meredith Mary Boland* Rev. Sally Brown Leona Card OSF The Loretto Community Katherine Carley The Loretto Community David Clarke SJ The Loretto Community Therese & Dick Compton The Loretto Community Margaret Conter SL Sharlene Piper Hower James, Eileen & Stephen Corrigan Ann Corrigan Barbara Croghan SL Linda & Pete Blosser Marjorie* & Robert* Riggs My deceased husband, Pat Dawson Mary (Katie) Dawson
Throughout this list of Memorials and Tributes, an asterisk ( *) following a name identifies that person as a Loretto Co-member.
James Dillon The Loretto Community St. Mary’s Academy Marie Ann Dillon SL Barbara Brooks Rancour John & Daniel Dore Doris Dore Rose Patricia Doyle SL Alice Mattingly Margaret Drury* The Loretto Community Carol Dunphy SL Jackie Crawford Ruth Roberts Cowan Shirley & Wayne Kaaz The Loretto Community Sally Smith Jean Clare Eason MMM The Loretto Community Margaret Fitzgerald SL Martha Alderson* Lorene M. Gardetto Gail Campanella Mary Jane Geier The Loretto Community Fabiola Gonzalez Ezechiel Martinez Brian Hammond* Carolyn S. Ahlemeier Martha J. Alderson Carol L. Basi Mary Lou Bennett Celynda Brasher & Anthony Traber Claudia Calzetta SL Judy & Ed Carlson Elizabeth (Betty) A. Connor The Dick & Slater Families Winnie & David Docter
Sally Dunne* Kris & Bert Emmons Kathleen & Robert Haley Kate & Mike Hannon Kathryn Hartrich Maurie G. Heins Sarah Henry Regina & Steven Herman Margaret (Peg) Jacobs* Katie Jones Barbara A. Light* The Loretto Community Marian Middle School Jessica Martin Joan & Tom McGinnis Barbara L. Mecker* Rosemary & Alan Meyers Jennifer S. Morgan Barbara Nicholas SL Jody C. Patterson Margaret Perel Renee & Scott Petty Susan & Kevin Randich Alice & Peter Sargent Mary E. Schuchman Mary E. Seematter* Sharon Wegener Cari Wickliffe Barbara Hand Theresa Cannon Theodore Hansen Janet & John O’Connor Marie Nöel Hebert SL James Hebert My deceased husband, Joseph Highland Mary Highland Marie Patrice Hoare SL Mary Gail & Thomas Horan
Summer 2015 • 21
gifts
Myron Howlett Norma Howlett Lucy Marie Janes SL Katie & Pat Mahoney Janet Houlihan Kain Joseph Houlihan Mr. & Mrs. N. K. Kan Juliana & Peter Kan Bonnie Kippis Angela & Jerome Booth Jack Knapp Betty Knapp Abby Marie Lanners Patricia & Larry Lanners Mary Leibman* Rose Marie Hayden Bette Lesch Edward Lesch Teresa Li Juliana & Peter Kan I. Rosina Trujillo López Barbara López Martin Sisters of Loretto at St. Ann’s, Arlington, Va. Mary Collier Sisters of Loretto who taught me Verlene D. Rogalin Carlos Marie Lubeck SL Jo & Dick Creasey Thomas Lyons Cathryn & John Ulmer Karen Madden SL Rosemary Leberer Loretto Ann Madden SL Rosemary Leberer Theresa Madden SL Rosemary Leberer Suze (Vanhaverbeke) Mantei Jackie Koroshetz Lala Martinez Bernadette & Roger Seick Don McCloskey* Tom Hendrickson Anna Louise Medley Medley Family Helen Metcalf Yvonne D. Harding
22 • Loretto Magazine
Bill Minelli Sally Minelli Robert Muenich Jay Muenich Vron Murphy Dolores “Dee” Ferrell Deceased members of the Newton & Marasco Families Helen C. Teter Frances Ann O’Bryan SL Doris J. Pittman Lois O’Connor James O’Connor Mary Aurelia Ottersbach SL Mary Kay Ottersbach Timothy Judson Parsons Judith Baenen The Loretto Community Frances Ratermann SL Bernadette Christensen Edward Remedios Elena Remedios Teresa Vella Richley The Loretto Community Christian & Gretchen Riegel Leo Riegel Joan, Rosa, Burkard, Al, Veronica, Ray, Chet Riegel Leo Riegel Vernell Rogers Margaret Andrasko Denise Ann Clifford SL Charlotte & John Haas Ingrid Haas & John Grones Michael Haas Rosemary Padberg Ida Romero Bernadette & Roger Seick Edmund V. “Bud” Rozycki Rosemary Casey Willard Ruggera The Loretto Community Richard Salsbury Estela Salsbury Raquel Saravia HFS The Loretto Community
Mr. & Mrs. Paul Schmidt Regina Schmidt Charlotte Marie Schwartz SL Barbara Brooks Rancour Marcrina Scott OSF The Loretto Community Marie Shabron Cathy Mueller SL Mary Nelle Gage SL Patricia Sloss O’Flaherty, LHC Jeanne Sward Thebado Charlotte Kilpatrick Regina Ann Thomas SL Joseph Hafner Lucy Thompson SL Betty Knapp
Alice Eugene Tighe SL Doris J. Pittman Maria Tong Juliana & Peter Kan Mr. & Mrs. S. S. Tong Juliana & Peter Kan Emmanuel Tonne SL Janice Murphy Deceased members of the Toolen family Patti Toolen Kratschmer Michelle Tooley* The Loretto Community Carina Vetter SL Martha Alderson*
Corrections We thank our readers for bringing any errors to our attention. These are corrections from the Memorials and Tributes of Honors section in Loretto Magazine Spring 2015 edition.
Correct spellings: Memorials Section Earl Bach Joan Kidnay Matthew Marie Grennan SL Francis Therese Halloran SL Marie Noël Hebert SL Mary Jane Hummel SL Joan Markley SL Immaculate Conception School, Monrovia, Calif. Honors Section Immaculate Conception School, Monrovia, Calif. Also in the Memorials Section, Mary S. Young gave a gift in memory of Bernice Juen SL.
gifts
In Honor of: Requested by:
The 2015 Golden Jubilarians Mary Louise Denny SL Regina Drey SL Joy Jensen SL Mary McAuliffe SL Cathy Mueller SL Mary Margaret Murphy SL Mary Catherine Rabbitt SL Janet Rabideau SL Barbara Roche SL Mary Elizabeth Bundy* Margaret Quayhagen SL Mary P. Quayhagen SL Carol Ann Ptacek SL New 2015 Loretto Co-members Betsy Clute* Pat Geier* Barbara Hagan* Jule Kerber* Mike* & Stacy* Leard George McShea* Byron Plumley* Martha Alderson* Joyce Ackles Trish* & Joseph Dunn Afsheen Ahmad Christopher George Pauline Albin SL David Schneide Ann Mary Mehling Marianne Alpers (wife) and grandson Patrick Alpers LaFawn Biddle, 90th Birthday Judith Baenen* Patty Calixto* Trish* & Joseph Dunn Denise Ann Clifford SL Kathy & Jim Jamail Mary Frances Recktenwald Clifford Bertha Timmel
Mary Lee Corbett Samuel Corbett Cathy Darnell* Jeanne Orrben* Cathy Deney’s 60th Birthday Mary Nelson* Marie Ego SL Trish & Bill Lewis Reese & Jax Elder Sally Manelli Nee Elliott James O’Connor The Ferrell Family Dolores “Dee” Ferrell Maureen Flanigan* Trish* & Joseph Dunn Mary Gavin, 80th Birthday Frances Darby Nancy Erickson Joy Gerity* Trish* & Joseph Dunn Jeannine Gramick SL Ryan Ignatius Pratt Dignity/Washington Org. Donna Hamburg* Catherine Darnell Maureen Flanigan* Mary Katherine Hammett SL, 90th Birthday Marilyn Montenegro Sarah Hernandez Ryan Ignatius Pratt Gabriel Mary Hoare SL Mary Gail & Thomas Horan Patricia Hummel SL Daniell Schaeffer Joy Jensen SL Carol Ann Ptacek SL Jean Johnson SL, birthday Barbara A. Johnson
Cecily Jones SL Rita Moran Cecily Jones SL in appreciation for the poem commemorating the 150th Anniversary, St. Mary’s Academy St. Mary’s Academy Kain Family Joseph T. Houlihan E. B. Kaldenhoven Marcia* & Joop Kaldenhoven Susan Kenney* Trish* & Joseph Dunn Margaret Rose Knoll SL Daniell Schaeffer Anna Koop SL Sally Smith Jane Kosters* Trish* & Joseph Dunn All the Sisters of Loretto Marjorie McDonald The Retired Sisters of Loretto Rita Klingen The Sisters of Loretto at St. Ann’s, Arlington, Va. Mary Collier The Sisters of Loretto over 65 years old Barrie Ryan The Sisters of Loretto who taught me Verlene D. Rogalin Mary Frances Lottes SL Arthur Lottes III Scott, Ken, Mason & Alexander MacKay Ginny MacKay Patricia Jean Manion SL Melissa Brechon Rae Marie Taylor
Marian McAvoy SL Rosemarie Voelker Maureen McCormack SL Trish* & Joseph Dunn Susan Carol McDonald SL Cabrini Bartolo SL Eileen Kersgieter SL Martha Alderson* Mary Ellen McElroy SL Trish* & Joseph Dunn Mary Jo & Heather Moana Mary Highland Members of Newton & Marasco Families Helen C. Teter Barbara Nicholas SL Beatrice & Harold Combs Peace for all countries, and an end to illegal drug dealing Ginny MacKay Lydia Peña SL Peggy & Donald Danborn Elaine Prevallet SL Karen Fultz Rae Marie Taylor Alma & Maruis Risley Christine & David Wagner Pam Solo* Martha Alderson* Joan Spero SL Trish* & Joseph Dunn Conetta Torrillo SL Ezechiel Martinez Lucy Walsh* Martha Alderson* Cabrini Bartolo SL Diana Welch Anonymous Kelly Marie Darby Carol Ann Ptacek SL
Summer 2015 • 23
Loretto Magazine
NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID ST. LOUIS, MO PERMIT NO. 2816
590 E. Lockwood St. Louis, MO 63119-3279
Address Service Requested
20th Annual
Sister Aline Dalton SL Memorial Golf Tournament “FORE” the Sisters of Loretto Retirement Fund Dear Friends of Loretto, We are still in need of a few good sponsors, donors, golfers and auction items for our tournament.
Can’t golf? How about sponsoring a hole In Honor or In Memory of your favorite Sister of Loretto, or loved one? For more information or to receive registration material, visit online at:
www.lorettocommunity.org/golf2015 or contact:
Kelly Marie Darby Event Coordinator
303-783-0450, ext. 1712 kdarby@lorettocommunity.org
Saturday, August 22, 2015 Arrowhead Golf Club at Roxborough Park Littleton, Colorado