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For more information on any of these news articles contact Angie Connolly, Director of Communications, at 563.588.2351 or by aconnolly@bvmcong.org.

BVM Receives Award for Service to Immigrants

Mary McCauley, BVM (Mercedie) and St. Bridget Parish received an Outstanding Service award for service to the immigrant and Hispanic community in Postville, Iowa in the aftermath of the May immigration raid. The US Bishops Conference Office of Migration and Refugee Services presented the award. 

 

 

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BVM has Poem Published in Lyrical Iowa

The Iowa Poetry Association has announced that Jane McDonnell, BVM (Bonaventure) will have a poem, “Beautiful Iowa”, published in Lyrical Iowa 2008. An extra 300 poems were submitted to the contest this year, so Jane survived greater competition. She has often had her work published in this anthology.

Seven of Jane’s poems, set to music by Clarke College faculty member Amy Dunker, were recently performed at a faculty composition recital. 

 

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BVMs Plan Service Trips to Ecuador and Florida

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Honorary Street Named for the BVMs

When the Jesuits at Loyola University gave a party to celebrate their long collaboration with BVMs at Mundelein College and in Holy Family Parish when Loyola still was there, one gift was the promise of an honorary street sign honoring BVMs on Sheridan Road before Wright Hall.  

October 23, a bright but windy day, Alderman Joseph Moore, Loyola Vice-President Wayne Magdiarz, and a group of BVMs, Jesuits and employees gathered to see the sign unveiled.   

Sister Carol Spiegel, Great Lakes regional, was among the speakers.  She said, “Today as we continue celebrating our 175th Jubilee, we are grateful.  We thank our brother Jesuits who asked the City of Chicago for this sign, and our Alderman Joe Moore who carried out the project to make the sign a reality.  

"We are grateful to Mary Frances Clarke and her companions who crossed the Atlantic and began our congregation and to the BVMs and their cohorts who created and nurtured Mundelein College, the Scholasticate and Wright Hall, and to all the students and friends who made our ministry worthwhile.  

"Many of you here today have been part of this rich history.  Some of you have supported our congregation as part of the Loyola community or as neighbors.  We thank you and we ask our loving God to bless all who travel this street, this Sisters of Charity, BVM Way.”

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Senior Housing Complex Named After BVM

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BVMs attend SOA Prayer Protest

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Situation in Postville Still Dire

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BVM Sister to attend Presidential Inauguration

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BVMs Participate in Vigil

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BVM Shares Inauguration Experience

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Sisters Benefit from Foundation Gift

The weather certainly hasn't halted the sisters' activity at Mount Carmel this winter. Walking past the Studio in the lower level of Caritas Center, you may hear the chant of sisters as they compete in a rousing game of bowling.

You may ask, when did they put in a bowling lane?

Through the generosity of the Freas Foundation, the congregation purchased a Wii video action system, which includes numerous sports games for the sisters to enjoy, such as golf, baseball, tennis and bowling. Mrs. Margery Freas was a 1942 graduate of St. Joseph Academy, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Karen Ratterman, fitness center specialist, and Sue Kemp, certified restorative therapy aide, agree the games provide good range of motion and activity for the sisters. "What is nice," says Karen, "is the sisters can use the games sitting as well as standing."

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Walking with Immigrants: BVMs Build Road to Justice

The BVMs have served the immigrant population since the community was founded in 1833. Mary Frances Clarke and her companions came to America to teach Irish immigrants and visit their sick and poor.

 

The BVMs continue to carry the tradition of welcoming the stranger. Since Vatican II, many sisters in the congregation have brought new life to a struggling people through various ministries. Sisters in California were jailed in the 1970s for picketing against treatment of migrant workers. During the 1970s BVMs ministered to Haitian refugees in Florida and to the Hmong people in Wisconsin. In the 1990s they served the Vietnamese and Hispanic immigrants in parishes and cities in the Midwest and West, teaching them English and providing residency assistance.

 

Continuing to draw on their rich history of service to the immigrants, BVMS respond to immigration issues in the 21st century. Mary McCauley became the voice of workers from Mexico and Guatemala, following a large immigration raid in May 2008 at Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. She worked through St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville to assist 300-400 family members of the jailed workers. “The important thing for people in this type of situation,” said Mary, “is to find someone they can trust.”

 

Judith Callahan is the current director of Hispanic ministry for the Archdiocese of Dubuque. Mary, Judy, and the BVM congregation continue to call for comprehensive immigration and labor reform. During an interfaith rally last July in Postville, Mary prayed for courage and love, in order to “give hope to our neighbor and to ultimately transform the hearts of legislators so they change laws in favor of immigration rights for all.”

 

BVM Immigration Timeline at a Glance

 

• 1973: Carol Frances Jegen, Mary Ellen Caldwell and Elizabeth Pleas are jailed, with Dorothy Day and 450 United Farm Workers, for two weeks for picketing in Fresno County, Calif. Caesar Chavez becomes a life-long friend of the BVM community.
• 1975: Betty Cover, Maureen Cleary, Carol Frances Jegen, Bennetta Quinn, Barbara Kutchera and Kathleen Mullin care for and educate the families of farm workers in California.
• 1976: Eileen McGovern and Catherine Leonard teach English to Vietnamese living in Dubuque, Iowa.
• 1978: Barbara Kutchera is voted by the BVM Senate to be the first BVM to serve on the board of the National Farm Worker Ministry.
• 1985: Kathryn Lawlor ministers to Haitian refugees in Florida.
• 1986: Diane Rapozo organizes parish groups to welcome Hmong people to Wisconsin.
• 1987: Luca Yankovich from her Catholic Charities office in Chicago provides residency assistance to Hispanics.
• 1998: Mary Philip Fitzgibbons and Dolores Hahn serve the Vietnamese in school and parish life in Lincoln, Neb.
• 2006: Judith Callahan becomes the director of Hispanic ministry for the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa.
• 2008: Mary McCauley is the voice of immigrants and workers from Mexico and Guatemala, following the largest immigration raid to date in the United States, at Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. To learn more about the raid, visit http://www.postvilleStBridget.org .

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March is National Women’s History Month!

National Women’s History Month is underway! Celebrate this year’s theme, 

 

Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet

 

This theme is timely in a year when the world is discussing the problems and repercussions of dramatic climate changes and the recognition of diminishing natural resources.

 

Every year, during the month of March, hundreds of thousands of events are held throughout the country to acknowledge and recognize the amazing accomplishments of women.

 

Consider during this special month the work of Rachel Carson (1907-1964), the founder of the contemporary environmental movement and an iconic model of this year’s theme. This renowned writer, scientist and ecologist spent most of her life promoting care of nature and our living world. Embedded within all of Carson’s writing was the view that human beings are but one part of nature distinguished primarily by their power to alter it, in some cases irreversibly.

 

Women’s History Month is a national celebration and recognition of women’s historic achievements. It began in 1980 when National Women’s History Week was proclaimed by presidential proclamation. In 1987, this national celebration was expanded by congressional resolution to an entire month by declaring March as National Women’s History Month.

 

Carolyn Farrell, BVM (Lester) and others seek to recognize women nationwide who either have taken or currently take an active role in earth issues. Women who have been recognized include scientists, engineers, business leaders, writers, filmmakers, conservationists, teachers, community organizers, religious or workplace leaders and others who show exceptional vision and leadership to save our planet.

 

For additional information or resources for honoring and celebrating women, visit National Women’s History Project website, www.nwhp.org.

 

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BVMs Promote Sixth Grade Vocation Day

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Sisters Work for Justice in Colombia

Sisters at Mt. Carmel took a stand for justice in Colombia recently by participating in a group project to protest unfair treatment of people living there. The sisters watched two videos about displaced persons in Colombia and then made paper dolls to represent these people and their circumstance.

 

The project stems from the dire situation of indigenous people, farmers and Afro-Colombians who have been displaced in the country due to conflicts funded by U.S. military aid.

 

Some are farmers whose land has been taken from them. For others, their land was fumigated in Plan Colombia, when the Colombian government tried to eradicate coca, the raw material in cocaine. Some farmers are adversely affected by the Free Trade Agreement, which involves the building of roads and planting of biocrops for biofuels instead of crops for food, resulting in no markets for their crops.

 

With the help of Jean Hayen, BVM and staff, the sisters busied themselves creating 200 dolls to represent 200,000 of the 4 million internally displaced persons in Colombia. These dolls will be sent to Gwen Farry, BVM at 8th Day Center to be part of the Good Friday Walk for Justice in Chicago.

 

The dolls will be strung together in a display at the Seventh Station of the Walk to remember these people.

 

The dolls will then be sent to Witness for Peace (WFP), a U.S. grassroots organization that works to change U.S. policies and corporate practices which contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean. On April 20, WFP and other groups will present to Congress 4,000 paper dolls (each doll representing 1,000 displaced persons) as a symbol of the injustices done to Colombians.

 

During the doll-making party, the sisters also signed postcards to President Obama, highlighting the injustices in Colombia and asking him to make human rights in that country a priority during his administration.

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Ann Ellen Quirk, BVM Receives De La Salle Award

News Release

Lewis University

Office of Advancement Communications

Romeoville, Ill

 

March 26, 2009

 

Community Leaders Honored with 2009 De La Salle Awards 

 

Lewis University recognized 10 members of the community with the De La Salle Award during a special ceremony on March 22, 2009. The De La Salle Award is presented each year to individuals who provide extraordinary service and leadership for the benefit of the community and region.

 

Award recipients for 2009 were Mrs. Jan Gehrig of Romeoville, Mr. Rey Gonzalez of Chicago, Mr. Mark Hanson of Joliet, Ms. Pam Kostecki of Joliet, Ms. Patricia Magee-Burford of Plainfield, Deacon Ed Petak of Joliet, Sister Ann Ellen Quirk, BVM of Wilmington, Dr. Paul and Mrs. Ann Rubino of Shorewood and Mr. Ray Waldman of Downers Grove.

The De La Salle Awards Ceremony began with a Mass at 10:30 a.m. in the Sancta Alberta Chapel on the Lewis main campus in Romeoville. The presentation of the awards by Lewis University President, Brother James Gaffney, FSC, followed at 11:30 a.m. and honorees and guests then celebrated with a luncheon in the University Dining Room. The 2009 award recipients represent a diverse, talented and distinguished group of community leaders, with substantial accomplishments in education, medicine, science, ministry, humanitarian work and community leadership.

 

Sister Ann Ellen Quirk, BVM

 

Sister Ann Ellen Quirk grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and attended Catholic primary school and then Holy Angels Academy High School, where she was inspired by her teachers, the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) Order. She joined the Order after high school and earned her undergraduate degree in music from Mundelein College and a certificate in pastoral ministry from Loyola University Chicago. In 1952, Sister Ann Ellen began working as a music teacher and a counselor at the St. Rose Parish in Wilmington, where she began a small food pantry in her music room. In 1984, Sister Ann Ellen established The Kuzma Care Cottage, where she serves as Executive Director. The Cottage provides food, clothes and shelter for more than 500 needy individuals and families each year.

 

Today, Sister Ann Ellen serves St. Rose Parish as a Pastoral Associate. She has been recognized by the State of Illinois, Catholic Charities, the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, the Wilmington VFW, the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW, the Gleaners, and the Wilmington Pastors Association among many others. In 1999, she was presented with awards of honor from the Mayor of Wilmington, the Will County Board and the United States Senate. The City of Wilmington, Illinois also named a portion of Main Street in her honor, and she has been referred to as the “Mother Theresa of Wilmington” by many organizations and individuals that have honored her work.

 

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BVMs Attend Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington, D.C.

In mid-March, BVMs traveled from Chicago and Dubuque to join Marge Clark, BVM and Associate Joan Lum at NETWORK headquarters in Washington, D.C. At the BVM Social Justice Network meeting, Marge and the other NETWORK staff members and associates described their roles in lobbying Congress for legislative action according to Catholic social principles. This was preliminary to their attendance at Ecumenical Advocacy Days (AED).

Note in the photo shown, the BVMs who attended were  (back row, l. to r.) myself, Theresa McNerney, Barbara Gaul, Carol Ann Spiegel, Nancy McCarthy, Gwen Farry; (front row, l. to r.) Associate Joan Lum, Carol Cook, Marge Clark, and Mary Ellen Meckley.

EAD is sponsored by 45 organizations ranging from Africa Faith and Justice Network to World Council of Churches. From Friday evening through Sunday evening, March 13-15, we went to our choice of over 80 informational sessions led by ecumenical/international experts on aspects of climate change, the theme of this year's meeting.

Some 700 attended, about 200 of us Catholic. Sunday we divided by denomination for a working lunch, and for Sunday's lunch we divided by home state. (Illinois may have been the largest group.)

The many interesting exhibits in the hallways made it hard to go to the sessions. I went every period except for the young adult gathering from 9:30 to 10:30 Sunday night. During the 15-minute breaks I ran from exhibit table to table picking up so much printed material that I could barely close my suitcase, or lift it. I plan to read every piece.

Having spent my life close to water in Lake Michigan, the Mississippi and various Iowa rivers, and Long Island Sound, this was my greatest interest. I concentrated on water in choosing sessions and heard about:

• water shortages in sub-Saharan African countries where the time spent carrying water interferes with education and industry as well as farming,
• polluted water in South American countries where mining and other industries dump waste into rivers with no regard for the population along them,
• rising water in oceans where the General Secretary of the Pacific Council of Churches already sees people displaced on little islands in his territory,
• diverted water in Israel/Palestine where Israelis consume on average four times as much water as Palestinians who require permission from the Israeli army to drill wells, and
• too much water along our Gulf coast where every mile of the washed-away barrier islands could have prevented a foot of flood water.

Aside from all the ecology, this was a religious gathering to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Franciscans. Living before the Reformation, St. Francis is admired by Protestant and Catholics as patron of ecology. Hence, the Franciscan presence was prominent throughout.

On Monday morning, March 16, we began the purpose of the meeting: advocacy. We went to Congress to urge senators and representatives to pass legislation:

• to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
• to provide funding to help vulnerable communities, both here and abroad, as the U.S. is the leading source of these gases that affect the entire world, and
• to assist climate migrants.

In every group visiting a congressional office, one person was chosen to advocate each point. I spoke to the third point at the offices of Senators Durbin and Burris and got quite worked up about these displaced persons who do not hold refugee status according to current law.

International law must adapt to a new situation, as it changed when millions were displaced by World War II.

Of course we saw not the senators, but staff members, individuals already informed about pending bills who listened to our views, asked questions and took notes. It was a good experience, and one that I hope will have good results.

--Mary A. Healey, BVM

 

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BVM Service Project Opens a Can of Worms, and More…

Sisters at Mt. Carmel recently completed a service project for Carnegie Stout Public Library, in Dubuque, Iowa. The library was showcased in the City Expo this month. They asked sisters - BVMs, Presentations and Franciscans - to crochet bookworms for free distribution during the Expo.

In a very short time, BVMs Lydia Buntemeyer, Geraldine Moorman (St. Geraldine) and Gracia Schmidt crocheted 300 colorful bookworms - complete with bright eyes and glasses - for the event. The library staff handed out the bookworms to children and adults who attended the Expo.

This is one example of the wonderful activities in which sisters at Mt. Carmel take part. The activities benefit the residents with little or no cost to the congregation. The yarn used to make the bookworms came from the remnant supply and cost nothing, but the resulting good deed for the library and Dubuque citizens who attend the event is invaluable.

Julie Wessels, activities coordinator at Mt. Carmel who also helped create the bookworms, says the sisters thoroughly enjoy participating in service projects like this. "It allows the sisters who cannot minister directly to the public to feel a part of something special. They continue to impact the community in small ways."

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Congregations Unite on Call for Moratorium on Raids

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Retired BVMs Featured in HBO Alzheimer Documentary

Sisters of Charity, BVM who are part of the Rush Study are featured in one part of a four-part HBO documentary called “The Alzheimer’s Project.”

 

This multiplatform series takes a close look at groundbreaking discoveries made by the country’s leading scientists, as well as the effects of this debilitating and fatal disease both on those with Alzheimer’s and on their families.  

“Momentum in Science, Part 1 and 2” is a state-of-the-science report that takes viewers inside the laboratories and clinics of 24 leading scientists and physicians, revealing some of the most cutting-edge research advances. Part 2 features the Sisters of Charity, BVM.

 

Although there is no cure for the disease, HBO’s “The Alzheimer’s Project” shows there is now genuine reason to be hopeful about the future.

 

Click here to view: Part 1 and 2.

Click here to view: Cognitive Reserve: What the Religious Orders Study is Revealing about Alzheimer's

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Commemoration in Postville Calls for Solidarity and Action

As hundreds of people marched in solidarity in Postville, Iowa, on the afternoon of May 12, 2009, their thoughts centered on the events that took place there only one year ago, as ICE agents stormed the small town of 2,200 and arrested 389 people during one of the largest immigration raids in history at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant.

 

Since the raid last May, families have been torn apart. Many of the people who were arrested have been deported, leaving loved ones behind. U.S.-born children became orphans as their immigrant parents were led away by agents and eventually sent back to Guatemala. Husbands and wives were separated without regard.

 

Others remain on house arrest, unable to work or leave Postville. Some have requested visas in exchange for being cooperative with the government’s prosecution of the employers.

 

St. Bridget’s Parish in Postville continues to serve the needs of those who are still caught in the nightmare. About 60 people continue to rely on the parish for food, clothing, housing and health care. The parish makes no distinction between legal and illegal—all who come in need are persons, first and foremost.

 

May 12, 2009, marked the first nationwide day of awareness and commemoration of the Postville raid. The annual event will continue, to promote awareness of the devastating effects of immigration raids. Many will come again to participate in prayer vigils, blessings and the symbolic march to Agriprocessors.

 

The work of those fighting for comprehensive immigration reform, just labor practices, family unity and an end to all raids has just begun. “We are working hard to raise the national consciousness about the devastations of this raid,” said Mary McCauley, BVM. “We can never be proud of what happened here.”

 

In her closing remarks at the prayer vigil in Postville, Sister Mary proclaimed:

 

“With this in mind……

• I invite us to go forth from here sounding a call for justice.
• I invite us to go forth from here confident that the God who called us will be with us, giving us the wisdom and courage we need to continue to be a people of hope and a people of love.
• I invite us to go forth from here determined to bring about comprehensive immigration reform.
• I invite us to go forth from here walking hand in hand, repeating the words of our July 27 [2008] prayer and rally: Give us Courage…Give us Hope…Give us Love!” 

On the Mt. Carmel Campus that day, the sisters held a 4 p.m. prayer vigil in the Motherhouse Chapel to commemorate and remember the devastation experienced by those involved in the raid on Agriprocessors in Postville. The public was invited, and many people accepted the invitation.

In Chicago that same day, 15 BVMs attended a commemorative rally at the Federal Plaza, and joined in a march to the ICE office where a letter supporting immigration reform was presented. The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, the 8th Day Center for Justice, the Chicago New Sanctary Movement and the West Suburban Action Project sponsored the rally.

In addition, Mary McCauley and numerous other sisters donned trees on the Mt. Carmel Campus with red ribbons to show support of the need for immigration reform. The ribbons are a reminder of the struggle being faced by hundreds of immigrant workers and their families caught up in the federal immigration raid one year ago in Postville. The ribbons will remain on the trees, but not tied into bows, until they feel that the U.S. immigration laws have been substantially reformed. 

Related Materials:

View our photo album of the Nationwide Day of Awareness and Commemoration in Dubuque and Postville  

Read a reflection on our Blog

View an interview with Mary McCauley, BVM as she and other BVMs don Mt. Carmel with red ribbons

View an article in the Kansas City Star about the events in Postville

View the May 13 Des Moines Register's front-page article and videos from Postville

View the front page of the Dubuque Telegraph Herald showing Sister Jane Rogers, BVM donning ribbons on trees at Mt. Carmel, and the accompanying article about the anniversary event in Postville

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Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America

On Saturday, May 16, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) witnessed the opening of their new exhibit, “Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America.” Sister Helen Maher Garvey, BVM is chair of the history committee for LCWR. The exhibit is a project that LCWR began in 2005 as a way to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

 

Eleven Sisters of Charity, BVM attended the opening day of the exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Sister Mary Ann Zollmann, president of the BVM congregation, shares that the exhibit is “beautiful, powerful and hopeful. It is such a story of who women religious in the U.S. have been, are and will be.”

 

The BVMs attending the opening day in Cincinnati are (l. to r.): Bernadette McManigal, Helen Maher Garvey, Gayle Brabec, Regina Qualls, Teri Hadro, Kathryn Lawlor, Margaret Mary Cosgrove, Peggy Nolan, Joellen McCarthy, Carolyn Farrell and Mary Ann Zollmann.

 

Sister Helen says that one goal of the exhibit is to “tell the true story” of women religious. “There is a lot of myth and mystery out there about Catholic sisters. We started this exhibit out of an intense desire to share the history of the Catholic sisters and their contributions to the history and culture of the United States. The sisters feel very strongly that it is an untold story.”

 

The artifacts and materials featured in this traveling exhibit tell a compelling story. Visitors will discover the important presence of women religious during pivotal moments in U.S. history, from the Civil War, through the Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, Hurricane Katrina, and beyond.

 

Douglass McDonald, president and CEO of the Museum Center, states, “The Sisters…made a significant impact on our country through selfless service to the pioneers, immigrant communities and America’s children. Finally, their perspective is documented.”

 

To organize and mount a project of this magnitude, Sister Helen and LCWR’s history committee traveled the country for the past four years, educating various organizations and foundations about the project and soliciting funds to bring it to fruition. Their work raised $4 million! In addition to seed money from religious congregations, major funding came from the Hilton Fund for Sisters ($1 million) and the Catholic Health Association ($500,000). The remainder of funds came from various foundations and Catholic institutions, particularly ones involved in health care.

 

Current schedule for the Women and Spirit Exhibit:

 

The Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

May 16 – Aug. 30, 2009

The Women's Museum: An Institute for the Future, Dallas, Texas

Sep. — Dec. 2009

The S. Dillon Ripley Center, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.

Jan – April, 2010

Statue of Liberty National Monument/Ellis Island Immigration Museum, New York City, N.Y.

Sep. — Dec. 2010

The Mississippi River Museum, Dubuque, Iowa

Feb – April, 2011

 

Related Materials:

Sister Helen Garvey’s Opening Address, Cincinnati Museum Center

BVM Photo Album of Women and Spirit Exhibit

Women and Spirit Exhibit Website

Videos of Sister Helen Garvey

LCWR Photos 

 

On May 14, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Ohio introduced a resolution to the US House of Representatives honoring the historic contributions of Catholic sisters. A copy of the resolution, as well as Congresswoman Kaptur's remarks on the floor, are on the LCWR website as well at http://www.lcwr.org/what%27snew/hrres.htm.

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Postville in Chicago

The 8th Day Center peace vigil group distributes informational leaflets every Tuesday at the Federal Building in Chicago, but Tuesday, May 12 was special.

 

The leaflet that day was entitled, “A Day of Remembrance and Action on the Anniversary of the Immigration Raid in Postville.” BVMs Gwen Farry, Carol Cook and Nancy McCarthy participate regularly in this weekly morning vigil. On May 12, they were also joined by Margaret Haas, BVM; and when they finished the closing song, the rally commemorating Postville began.

 

Ten other BVMs joined the sisters, as well as others from a variety of religious groups. The BVM segment also included Sisters Peggy Devereux, Dorothy Dwight, Dorothy Gaffney, Theresa Gleeson, Pat Griffin, Mary Healey, Kate Keating, Joellen McCarthy, Carol Spiegel and Luca Yankovich.

 

The program included songs, chants and prayers, and many carried signs and banners to publicize the purpose of the gathering. The group also pinned on red ribbons to symbolize their solidarity with those in Postville. Several speakers gave testimonies in connection with the Postville raid, and Gwen Farry read an account provided by Mary McCauley, BVM, which was read in Spanish by another 8th Day staff member. At the close of the program, the group walked to the Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) building, where they again joined in prayer and song across the street from the building.

 

At 10 a.m., to commemorate the time of the raid in 2008, they read the names of all those detained in Postville during the raid at Agriprocessors. A small delegation then delivered the letter to the ICE office. This letter demanded an end to raids and more humane treatment of immigrants.

All involved in the day’s events felt a sense of solidarity with those who were able to travel to Postville on this day, and carried away a hope that these anniversary commemorations will hasten immigration reform and an end to all raids.

Submitted by Nancy McCarthy, BVM

 

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Chicago’s Green Festival 2009 Promotes Care of Earth

The Green Festival held at Navy Pier in Chicago on May 16-17 was an enriching and enlightening event inviting participants to “be green” in response to every aspect of their lives.

 

Exhibitors represented a great diversity of ways: alternatives in health care, transportation, rain barrels, natural soaps and creams, recycling and reuse, natural and local foods, books, education via regular schools, Earth-friendly habits.

 

Among the speakers of the event, one had a message for the BVMs, it seemed, in particular. Zoe Weil, cofounder and president of the Institute for Humane Education, shared ideas about how to do the “most good and the least harm.” She called this MOGO (most good) living. Zoe sees three factors effecting this way of living: lack of knowledge, lace of will to change or act and systems in place which need changing.

 

Here are her seven keys to MOGO living—practical keys to being Earth friendly and living simply:

• Live your epitaph.
• Pursue joy through service.
• Make connections and self-reflect.
• Model your message and work for change.
• Find and create community.
• Take responsibility.
• Strive for balance.

 

Offerings during the festival included items recycled from newspapers and other everyday things, Fair Trade products and exhibits for attendees who were eager to discover ways to better care for our Earth.

 

You can learn more about this event, which also takes place in other cities across the United States, at www.greenfestivals.com. Upcoming locations and dates include Washington, D.C. (Oct. 10-11) and San Francisco (Nov. 13-15).

 

Green Festival is a joint project of Global Exchange and Green America (formerly Co-op America).

 

Contributing authors: Catherine Jean Hayen, BVM; Rose Mary Meyer, BVM; Carol Spiegel, BVM

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Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM Receives Dux Mirabilis Award from Loyola University

Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM received the Dux Mirabilis Award from Loyola University Chicago during the Founders’ Dinner held June 6 at the university. Latin for “extraordinary leader,” the Dux Mirabilis Award was presented to Jean Dolores for her extraordinary contribution to the university and its mission.

 

Mary Ann Zollmann, BVM, during the invocation, spoke of all the honorees of the event, “We are grateful for their exemplary leadership and service to this Loyola community and beyond; we are thankful for the inspiration the quality of their lives offers to all of us.”

 

In her acceptance speech, Jean Dolores states, “I accept [this award] as an invitation to be even more dedicated to my commitment to Loyola and its mission.”

 

Jean Dolores has been part of the Loyola community since 1961. After the affiliation of Loyola University Chicago and Mundelein College in 1991, she served as an academic advisor with the university, which is now the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

 

Since her so-called retirement in 1994, she has been the team chaplain for the Loyola Ramblers men’s basketball team, praying with the team and cheering them on at games. She also serves as a chaplain at Water Tower Campus, where she often works the shuttle-bus line talking to, listening to, and learning from students.

 

“I consider my work at Mundelein for 30 years and for 18 years at Loyola a great privilege…and now in semi-retirement, if you want to call it that, I have the gift of time—time for the unplanned, especially for the people who flow through my life:  family, friends, students and, often, unexpected strangers who need to tell their stories and discuss their groping for God to a gentle, unhurried ear. I enjoy every minute of what I do.”

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LCWR Honors Helen Maher Garvey, BVM with Outstanding Leadership Award

Helen Maher Garvey, BVM (Robert Joseph) received the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) Outstanding Leadership Award for her extraordinary contributions to the mission of religious life over the years. In her address, Helen invites all "to come to the mission" to fully understand how women religious have impacted the lives of so many in our world.

 

Helen is one of two recipients of this award; the other recipient is Sharon Holland, IHM. The organization celebrated their lives at the LCWR assembly banquet in New Orleans this month.

 

Helen is the current coordinator of the LCWR History Project which developed the exhibit “Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America.”

 

Sisters Mary Ann Zollmann, Mira Mosle and Teri Hadro, the BVM Council, stated about Helen and her work, “We BVMs have always known the depth and extent of Helen’s leadership so we are delighted to have her gifts recognized so broadly.”

 

LCWR is a canonically approved membership organization which exists as a support system and corporate voice for leaders of institutes of women religious (Catholic sisters) in the United States.

 

To view other documents relating to the 2009 LCWR Assembly in New Orleans, please click here. 

 

Helen Garvey, BVM joined hosts Fr. Robert Reed, Jay Fadden and Kevin Nelson in the CatholicTV living room recently via phone conversation about the Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America exhibit. The interview was part of the program "This Is the Day" on CatholicTV.

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Mary McCauley, BVM Honored by Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition

Mary McCauley, BVM (Mercedie) was recently honored by the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition for her work as an immigration justice leader.

The inaugural celebration "Immigration Justice: Postville and Beyond" honored Mary for her powerful witness to the struggle for justice at the time of the massive immigration raid at Agri Processing Plant in May 2008 and her efforts to meet the needs of the immigrant families and the Postville, Iowa, community.

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Stitching a House of Hope

This story begins with a thank you note—a note of deep gratitude for the joy Luann Brown experienced after seeing her students in Ecuador benefit from the generosity of BVMs and others in the United States.

 

Sister Luann Brown, BVM writes to her congregation:

 

I wish to express my deepest thanks, on behalf of the school, Yachay Wasi, to all those who participated in any way in the quilt raffle which Mary Frances Reis, BVM conducted. Your generosity has contributed to the life of the school.

 

The school will use some of the money to supplement the government-funded lunch program for the children. They also harvest a fair amount of food from their chakra (garden), but it is not enough to feed 60 children every day. Many of our kids only eat what is served at school.

 

The bulk of the funds will be used for stipends for the teachers, the cook, and the social worker. The government funds only one salary, which goes to the director. Those who work at Yachay Wasi receive a monthly stipend of $125. This is below minimum wage ($200) and is not even close to funding the needs of a family. Spouses’ salaries make up the difference. Recently, the school has not had the funding to pay the teachers and workers even the small stipend, so this donation has come at a critical time. Survival is key at the moment.

 

The quilt raffle emerged from the sense of necessity to have ready cash to meet emergency needs. From years of making quilts in the bootheel—the middle of the quilt kingdoms of Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee—those involved in the process garnered much experience. They learned, for instance, that the number of hand-sewn stitches per inch raised the quality and value of the quilt. The high-priced quilts display an outstanding array of embroidery and patchwork. Creative names for such beauties raise even more interest: Tree of Life, Double Irish Chain, Mother Clarke’s Birthday, and the favored in Quito, Houses of Hope.

 

Mary Frances Reis affirms Luann:

 

Quilts have two sides. The one side of the quilt, the side that warms and offers safety, security and love, has spread out over 20 years, spanning the geography of Missouri’s bootheel and more recently farther south in Quito, Ecuador. In Ecuador, the quilt brought comfort and met urgent needs, as it has in the bootheel.

 

The other side of the quilt reveals its origin and purpose and illumes the quilting process. The public, who engages in “taking a chance” on it, considers this side a work of art. This side provides a different story of compassion and generosity.

 

The raffle sales span a year or two, allowing benefactors several opportunities to purchase chances, thus increasing revenue. The intakes range from $3,500 to $10,000. In outreach areas like Quito, no amount is too small to be stretched into vital needs.

 

Luann shares:

 

One of the many things I love about our BVM community and its members is that we recognize that those who truly suffer in any financial crisis are the poor. And we do not want to lose sight of that.

 

A very special gracias to Mary Frances, who worked tirelessly for more than a year taking the quilt road show around the country, and to all who worked behind the scenes to make this a successful venture.

 

And Mary Frances rejoins:

 

Perhaps the new quilt being made, Stars and Flowers, will create even greater awareness of the situations of people in our world: the migrants in the bootheel, the poor in the Ozarks and students in Quito. They continue to need the warmth, safety, security and love a new quilt offers. In the spirit of Mary Frances Clarke, who always accompanied a prayer of thanksgiving along with the intercession, we adopt her trust and say you’re welcome, Luann, and “Thank you” in advance.

 

To read more about Luann Brown, BVM and Yachay Wasi in Ecuador, go to pages 6-7 in the Summer 2009 issue of Salt magazine.

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Sr. Mary McCauley Receives State Justice and Equality Medal

Mary McCauley, BVM received the 2009 Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice at a celebration in Des Moines recently.

This award was presented to Mary by the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women for her part in the aftermath of the 2008 Postville, Iowa, immigration raid. As told in a Dubuque Telegraph Herald article, Mary McCauley thought only of her duty to those most affected, when U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials detained nearly 400 undocumented workers in the now-infamous raid at the Postville kosher meatpacking plant, Agriprocessors.

"When something like this happens, you think only of your duty to the people in front of you," she said. "You're moving with your heart.

Mary's receipt of the award touched many hearts, including Des Moines Register columnist Reka Basu, who wrote an inspiring Opinion column about Mary and her work with immigrant families in Postvill, Iowa.

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Marquette University Waves Banner in Honor of BVM

Marquette University, in Milwaukee, Wisc., gives tribute to the late Mary Remi Harrington, BVM as the first religious sister to graduate from the university. The banner displays her accomplishment, which hangs among others on campus.

 

Sr. Mary Remi studied at the university from 1891-93, prior to entering the BVM community in 1893. She received a B.S. from Marquette in 1913, and a B.A. in 1914. She took a number of graduate courses there, in history and English, as well.

 

Sr. Mary Remi died in 1940. She is the aunt of Ann Harrington, BVM, who currently sits on the faculty at Loyola Chicago.

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BVM Wii Wonders Strike Again!

Several Sisters of Charity, BVM took part in a recent Wii bowling tournament at Dubuque (Iowa) Nursing and Rehab. They enjoyed competing in this newfound sport, and spending time with residents at the local nursing and retirement facility. To view the BVM photo album of Wii bowling events, click here.

 

The sisters spare no opportunities to enjoy bowling with their Wii gaming system. They hold frequent tournaments at Mount Carmel, in addition to their "road" schedule.

 

Using the gaming system provides a refreshing way for the sisters to stay active and spend quality time together, and with other bowlers in the area. The Wii includes several gaming options, but the bowling program is definitely a favorite of the sisters. The congregation obtained the Wii gaming system through a grant from the Freas Foundation.

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Sowing Seeds - Transforming Tomorrow

On Sunday, Sept. 27, 8th Day Center for Justice will celebrate 35 years of work on creating a more just and sustainable world through systemic change on a broad spectrum of social justice issues.

The celebration runs from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., at Catholic Theological Union, 5416 S. Cornell Ave, Chicago, Ill.

The day's event include a concert by emma's revolution, a silent auction of multicultural artifacts and original art pieces, snacks, and a time to meet with other dedicated and joyful workers for justice and peace who believe another world is possible.

Currently, three Sisters of Charity, BVM work on the staff at 8th Day: Gwen Farry, BVM (Leontia), Helen Gourlay, BVM (Frances Helen) and Joellen McCarthy, BVM.

For more information on the upcoming event and the center's work, visit 8th Day's website or call 312.641.5151.

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U.S. House Honors Catholic Sisters

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) announced the unanimous approval of a House Resolution honoring the historical contributions of Catholic Sisters in the United States.

 

Following is a description of the roll call:

H.RES.441
Title: Honoring the historical contributions of Catholic sisters in the United States.
Sponsor: Rep Kaptur, Marcy [OH-9] (introduced 5/14/2009)      Cosponsors (67)
Latest Major Action: 9/22/2009 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 412 - 0 (Roll no. 720).

 

Visit the LCWR website to view the text of the resolution as approved.

 

View the individuals who voted yes, and cosponsors.

 

You may wish to thank your representative if he or she sponsored the resolution.

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BVMs Attend November Rally at School of the Americas

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Bookmarks from the BVMs

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Sister Mary Sattgast, BVM (Mary de Porres) Receives “Distinguished Service Award”

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BVMs, Associates and Friends Return from Ecuador Service Trip

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BVMs Volunteer at Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose

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Defending the Rights of the Little People

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Sister Alice Connell Celebrates 100th Birthday at Mount Carmel

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Sister Mary Wolfe, BVM (Nicodema) Honored by City of Rock Island, Illinois

Sister Mary Wolfe, BVM was honored by the city of Rock Island, Ill., on Feb. 12, 2010, with a proclamation issued by Mayor Dennis E. Pauley declaring the day as “Sister Mary Wolfe Day.”

As the last BVM in the local parish to relocate to Dubuque, Mary was presented with a proclamation listing her many accomplishments since coming to Rock Island in 1981 to work at Augustana College Library. She volunteered for years at area hospitals and St. Anthony Parish. Mary was also a strong advocate for keeping the city clean, and received recognition in March 2008 for her clean-up and recycling activities through “Keep Rock Island Beautiful.”

 She is wished a well-earned rest and “true” retirement by the residents of Rock Island.

 

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Sister Mary Catherine Beckman, BVM (St. Ambrose) Named ACCW Woman of Year

Sister Mary Catherine Beckman, BVM has been named the Chicago Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women’s (ACCW) 2010 Woman of the Year.

“Susie” has been called “a quiet force for good” at St. Ignatius Parish, where she volunteers at the Ignatian Services Food Pantry and the annual Walk sponsored by the Greater Chicago Food Depository. She gives rides to parish members who don’t drive or have a car and many people depend on her welcoming, generous spirit. She also volunteers to serve on numerous BVM congregation committees and assists the Immaculata Alumnae Association with bookkeeping. According to the St. Ignatius Bulletin, "Sr. Mary Catherine exemplifies all the goodness of heart of  the ACCW / Glenola Club's Woman of the Year 2010."

She will be honored at an ACCW Woman of the Year Luncheon and Award Ceremony on May 8, 2010, in Niles, Ill.

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Prayer Commemorates the 2nd Anniversary of Immigration Raid in Postville, Iowa

The second anniversary of the immigration raid that took place at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, on May 12, 2008, will be commemorated with a simple prayer at 5 p.m. on May 12, 2010, at St. Bridget Church in Postville. Friends of those affected by this raid will join together to remember that day—to recall and express gratitude to all who have shared their love and concern with those affected by the raid—and to acknowledge God’s faithful presence and loving care during this long and difficult journey. (Prayer link) 

 Much has happened to the people who were arrested, to their families, to those who have so generously responded to their needs, and to the town of Postville during the last two years. Most of the people arrested served their five months in jail and have been deported to their home countries.  Back in Guatemala and Mexico they struggle to survive, dealing with the same daily challenges and heartaches that impelled them to risk their lives to come to Postville in the first place. 

 With the help of Sonia Parras, an immigration lawyer, a small number of the people arrested on the day of the raid have been able to obtain a U visa. A U visa is granted to victims of certain crimes, giving the persons temporary legal status and work eligibility in the United States for up to four years. The challenge for these people is finding work in a place where they are comfortable and secure. Most would like to remain in Postville, but in this small rural town, job opportunities are limited.

 At the time of this update, we await the sentencing of Sholom Rubashkin, the manager of Agriprocessors, who was found guilty of 86 financial fraud charges. Another trial concerning child labor law violations will begin on May 4 in Waterloo, Iowa. Some of the minors who worked at Agriprocessors have been brought back from Mexico and Guatemala to serve as witnesses at this trial.

 Postville’s kosher meatpacking plant, now called Agristar, is under new ownership. While still not up to full capacity, it is making efforts to improve conditions and increase productivity. Many newcomers from different countries, as well as the United States, have come to Postville seeking employment. 

 In addition to responding to the daily needs of the Hispanic community remaining in Postville, the St. Bridget staff is committed to comprehensive immigration reform. It is their conviction that only through a change in our current immigration policy will the needs of those affected by the raid really be addressed.

 —Mary McCauley, BVM

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Sister Ann Harrington, BVM (St. Remi) Honored in Chicago

Ann M. Harrington, BVM was honored recently with the Living Tradition Award, given “to a scholar who has exemplified the Catholic intellectual heritage in her work and in her life.”

 Ann received this award at the Fourth Annual Catholic Intellectual Heritage Banquet held on April 19, 2010, at the Joan and Bill Hank Center at Loyola University, Chicago, Ill. She was joined by faculty and friends for a reception, award presentation and dinner.

 Pictured left are: Dr. Timothy Gilfoyle, Chair of Loyola’s History Department; Dr. Michael Schuck, Director of the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola; Ann Harrington, BVM; Mary Ann Zollmann, BVM; and Fr. Michael Garanzini, S.J., President of Loyola University Chicago.

 “I was taken totally by surprise to be chosen for such an honor, but delighted because all my recent work focuses on the contributions of women religious to our Catholic intellectual heritage, and the stories of women religious need to be told,” Ann says.

 Ann is a professor in the department of history and Director of Asian Studies at Loyola University Chicago.

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Women and Spirit Exhibit Moves to California!

June 19, 2011 – Aug. 14, 2011

“Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America” opens June 19, 2011, at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, Calif.

The exhibit reveals the role of Catholic sisters in shaping American history.  Through rare artifacts, compelling photographs and videos, and vivid first-person narratives, the exhibition explores the contributions Catholic sisters made—and continue to make—in shaping the nation’s social and cultural landscape.

The Sisters of Charity, BVM are included in the national exhibit with artifacts and photographs on display.  Prior to going to Mount St. Mary's, W & S was on display at the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa, where, in collaboration with 12 area congregations, a local presentation at the Old Jail Museum has just opened to complement the national exhibit.

The “Women & Spirit” traveling exhibit, is organized by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).

Make your plans to attend now!!!

“Women and Spirit” is touring the United States now through 2012.  Look for a city near you.

Exhibit Schedule:

June 19, 2011 – Aug. 14, 2011
Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, Calif.

Sept. 2, 2011 - Dec. 31, 2011
Center for History in association with the University of Notre Dame
 and St. Mary's College, South Bend, Ind.

For more information, visit “Women and Spirit”: www.womenandspirit.org

Discover a world few have see, millions have shared.

 

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Catholic Religious Leaders Call for Action on Immigration Reform

The presidents of the national conferences of men and women religious, comprising leaders of U.S. orders of Catholic priests, brothers and sisters, issued a statement calling on President Obama and Senate and House leaders to work for comprehensive immigration reform now.

The members of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) represent the majority of the nation’s Catholic sisters, brothers and religious priests, a number of whom work directly with immigrant families and communities.

The statement reiterates a previous joint statement issued in 2007 in response to the failure of comprehensive immigration reform which stated: “The status quo is morally unacceptable, as millions of immigrants are relegated again to the shadows in our nation.”

The current statement was prompted by the “recent draconian enforcement-only legislation in the state of Arizona and by the introduction by Senator Schumer and others of a Conceptual Proposal for Immigration Reform, which, according to the statement “once again underscores the absolute necessity for Congress to act soon and to fix, in a comprehensive way, our broken immigration system.”

While acknowledging the right of the United States “to control its borders,” the presidents affirm the need for a “just and humane approach to immigration reform which must include a path to citizenship, family reunification and protection of workers’ rights.”

The statement emphasizes both religious values inherent in the “Catholic faith and missions of many of our Religious Institutes” and the national US value of being a “welcoming people.”

Read the entire statement.

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Clarke College Becomes Clarke University

"Mary Frances Clarke began her ministry by meeting the needs of her day," said Clarke Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joan Lingen, BVM, Ph.D. "This initiative honors her spirit as we strive to meet the needs of our day and plan for the future. Click here to read more about Clarke's decision.

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Sister Kathleen McGrath, BVM (Johnine) Receives Blue Plate Award

Kathleen McGrath, BVM serves part-time on the staff of Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa, Calif.

This spring, she received an award at the end of her term at the Redwood Empire Food Bank in Santa Rosa.

The award reads:

 In recognition of your commitment to end hunger in our community

Kathleen McGrath, BVM

Member of the Board of Directors 2009–2010

After serving on the Board of Directors of the food bank for nine years, Kathleen is still volunteering there one morning each week doing computer work in the warehouse office.

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Sister Deanna Carr, BVM Honored by St. Gabriel Parish in Port Orchard, Washington

On Sunday, May 9, 2010, Sister Deanna Carr, BVM was recognized for her leadership during her ministry as pastoral coordinator for St. Gabriel Parish in Port Orchard, Wash. The church’s new bell tower was dedicated in her name and the name of the BVM congregation. “It was an amazing moment for BVMs and our heritage of ministry throughout the church,” says Sr. Joyce Cox, BVM, who was present at the dedication ceremony. “Deanna is so loved by this community and her ministry so cherished.”

In an article in the Catholic Northwest Progress on Sept. 18, 2008, former pastoral council chair at St. Gabriel, Susan Whitford, said, “I cannot say enough wonderful things about her . . . I think that she has tremendous skills in terms of bringing people together, in terms of listening to people . . . She’s just always got a positive, upbeat attitude.”

Dating back to World War II, St. Gabriel Parish has weathered the times and grown over the years. Many parishioners attribute this spark of rejuvenation to Sister Deanna Carr, who in 2008 had already been at St. Gabriel for six years. Also noted in the Catholic Northwest Progress article was this quote from parishioner Ron Testa. “Sister’s been kind of a masterful orchestra conductor, keeping everybody using all their talents to the best of their ability.”

Though Deanna now works in the archives department at Mount Carmel, she has left behind a legacy at St. Gabriel—a parish eager to be involved and serve the community. True to her BVM Core Values, she is, as Joyce Cox, BVM, says: “one of the BVM community of individual women who have made and continue to make such a difference.”

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Celebration and Thank You for Women Religious in San Jose Diocese

On Sunday May 2, 2010, Bishop Patrick McGrath hosted a Vesper service and reception to thank the women religious of the San Jose diocese for their ministries and dedication. Held at the Santa Clara Mission Church, with a reception at the Adobe Lodge, the celebration included over 500 people who had come to thank the women religious of the San Jose diocese for their service.

A multicultural vespers featured Vietnamese and other parish dancers,  BVM Bette Gambonini as a member of the choir, and a presentation of each congregation’s constitutions, which Sister Elizabeth Avalos, BVM, presented for the Sisters of Charity, BVM. Each congregation also displayed a poster showing their current ministries.

Pictured here with their BVM poster are Sisters (l. to r.): Elizabeth Avalos, Bette Gambonini, Ann Marie Dress, Marilyn Wilson and Susan Alchoncher.

Bishop McGrath awarded the Benedictus Award to all of the women religious congregations present. This award is given to those who have contributed to the liturgical and spiritual welfare of Catholics in their diocese. A framed copy was given to each congregation, with the original placed in the Chancery so that people are reminded of the dedication of women religious.

 

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Rubashkin's Acquittal Fuels BVM's Renewal of Hope and Determination

“Today, I am filled with a renewed determination . . . I cannot lose hope. I have to hope that this decision will stir within people a desire to work for immigration reform.”

These words of BVM Mary McCauley voice her response to the acquittal of former Agriprocessors, Inc. executive Sholom Rubashkin on child-labor violations. Read more about what she has to say about rights "for the little people” in the newspaper interview: http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=285402

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Sister Mary Sattgast, BVM (Mary de Porres) Receives “Lamp of Knowledge Award”

Mary Sattgast, BVM, received the “Lamp of Knowledge Award” on June 16, 2010, at the Carmel Catholic High School Alumni Awards held at the Royal Melbourne Country Club in Long Grove, Ill. She is pictured at left with CCHS President Dr. Judith Murchek (l.) and Jerry Rejc, recipient of the Alumni of the Year Award.

 This award is symbolized by the lamp located in the upper left-hand quadrant of the Carmel Crest. It celebrates a spirit-filled life in Jesus and acknowledges those who use their God-given gifts of time, talent and treasure to touch the lives of others.

Currently the registrar at Carmel, Mary has been a biology teacher there since the sixties, when she helped found the school, which is jointly sponsored by the Sisters of Charity, BVM, and the Order of the Carmelites (O.Carm.).  Mary shares: “One of the best things that has happened during my life is being ‘missioned’ to Carmel High School for Girls at its opening. Another best thing is being allowed to continue working there.”

 The Award brochure describes Mary’s accomplishments:

“Sr. Mary Sattgast has been a teacher at Carmel since its inception. She embodies the Carmel spirit. She has tirelessly given her interest, energy, enthusiasm, knowledge and kindheartedness to the school for 40 years. She decided at an early age to become a BVM Sister because when she transferred to a new school at age 6, a BVM Sister was very kind to her and made her feel welcome in her new environment. She has never lost her conviction to be like the Sister who was once so kind to her.”

 

 

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BVM Sisters at Mount Carmel Surprise Msgr. Robert Vogl with 90th Birthday Celebration

On Thursday, July 7, the Sisters of Charity, BVM at Mount Carmel in Dubuque hosted a surprise birthday party for Msgr. Robert R. Vogl, who celebrated his 90th birthday on July 5. The Marian Hall sisters were in charge of the party, which began with a liturgy at 11 a.m., followed by lunch in the Marian Hall dining room. A reception was held from 1:30–3:00 p.m. in Loyola Hall.

One of a rotating group of liturgy presiders at Mount Carmel back in the 1980s, Msgr. Vogl has been associated with the BVMs for over 30 years. “He must have taken a liking to us,” says Sister Virgina Hughes, BVM. After 48 years of teaching at Loras College, Msgr. Vogl began his role as full-time chaplain at Mount Carmel in 1992.

 Sister Mary Ann Zollmann, president of the BVM congregation, has known Msgr. Vogl since 1981, when they were both professors teaching religious studies. “I taught at Clarke College when he was at Loras,” she says. “Msgr. Vogl is certainly a man who lives the Gospel totally and completely. Here at Mount Carmel he preaches the Word to all of us . . . teaching and preaching is what he does best.”  

When presented with a kelly green Irish sweater and plaid Irish cap, Msgr. Vogl, who is of German descent, responded, “I’ll wear whatever is in my closet!” He was also honored with a large cardboard check for one million dollars—nonrefundable to the BVM community—a tribute to the fact that much of what he’s received over the years has been donated back to the BVM congregation.

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Sister Mary Janine Wolff, BVM Honored by Catherine McAuley Center

Mary Janine Wolff will receive the 10 Year Individual of Service Award for her volunteer hours at the Catherine McAuley Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The award is given to Mary Janine from the 27th Annual Governor’s Volunteer Awards. The Governor’s Volunteer Awards (GVA) program began presenting state-level recognition to honor Iowa volunteers in 1983, choosing its award recipients from state agencies and nonprofit, charitable and government organizations.

Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1989, the Catherine McAuley Center celebrates 20 years of service to the Cedar Rapids community, providing programs for transitional housing for women and adult basic education. Mary Janine has been a tutor in the Adult Basic Education Program at the Center for more than 10 years and also volunteered at many events.

Chris Lumm, Education Program Assistant, says, “Sr. Janine is the embodiment of the mission of CMC. She is an inspiring, stalwart volunteer, a dedicated educator and an ardent promoter of individuals in need. We thank her for her time, for her service, and for being such a blessing to the lives of so many.”

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‘A Small Discreet Population’

Last weekend I participated in a delegation to Coal River Valley, W.Va., where we met with people whose lives are being affected by mountaintop removal (MTR). The delegation was sponsored by Eco-Justice Collaborative.

MTR has destroyed a million acres throughout Appalachia and less than two percent of it has been “reclaimed.” Rabbi Arthur Waskow says, “The earth herself is groaning and rebelling under the oppression of Big Oil & Big Coal.” It isn’t just the land that is being destroyed. There’s a tremendous human toll. Drinking water and the air are polluted. Few families in the area that we visited have not suffered some illness related to the coal industry: kidney and liver failure, neurological problems, asthma, black lung disease and many different cancers.

Resident Larry Gibson welcomed us to what’s left of his family homestead at Kayford Mountain. As he accompanied us up the path that leads to an overlook, we met a woman who was transporting 25 gallon bottles of clean water to her cabin. As we came to the ridge we were greeted by a view that resembled a moonscape. We looked out over mountaintop removal sites covering about 12,000 acres. This is the result of blasts (the equivalent of 100 Oklahoma City bombings—using the same explosives) which unearth the coal deposits.

We drove on to Whitesville, where we met other residents and heard their stories which led them to activism. For several years, they have lobbied the U.S Congress and West Virginia legislators against mountaintop removal and continue to do so. Lorelei Scarbro lost her husband to black lung disease. Several other members of her family have been or are employed in the coal industry. She shared stories of her efforts to stop MTR. One of the most poignant was a meeting with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representative, to whom she pointed out the health problems of her friends and neighbors related to air and water pollution caused by coal. Afterward, the EPA representative referred to the “small discreet population” that was being affected—just so much collateral damage.

Elementary school adjacent to coal plant.

But is it just a small group of people who are affected? Even if that were the case, deliberately endangering the lives of others is indefensible. And yet tons of coal—mined in West Virginia—are sent out of the area, out of the state and out of the country. How many other neighborhoods are being affected by the pollutants generated by its transport and later its burning?

Gwen Farry, BVM

Possible Actions:

www.ilovemountains.org

www.ecojusticecollaborative.org

The Topless America Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7u5-92KdQc

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Sister Mary Jocile Valliere, BVM Celebrates 100th Birthday

Sister Mary Jocile Valliere, BVM celebrated her 100th birthday at Mount Carmel on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010. She greeted family, sisters and friends before and after the liturgy celebrated at 11 a.m. in the Marian Hall Chapel. A dinner in the Caritas dining room rounded out the festivities.

A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sister Mary Jocile will also celebrate 80 years as a Sister of Charity, BVM, on Sept. 8, 2010. She has served in administration and also as a superior, registrar, treasurer and bookkeeper. For much of her ministry she has been a teacher in the Midwest, including Chicago and St. Louis.

View Sister's celebration photos at:

http://www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_album_detail.cfm?galleryID=52

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We Invite You to Celebrate the International Day of Peace—Sept. 21, 2010

The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and many other local institutions and businesses will join with Dubuque, Iowa, and the world in celebrating the United Nations International Day of Peace on Sept. 21, 2010.

A group of Dubuque-area residents have taken the initiative by asking the Dubuque City Council to proclaim Sept. 21 as United Nations International Day of Peace in Dubuque and by inviting others to join in “creating a culture of peace” on this day.

The group’s purpose statement reflects its goal: “Peace lies at the heart of each individual, all families, communities, territories and nations. Peace is the dream we hope and strive for. It is possible to see a world turn from violent to nonviolent solutions within our lifetimes.”

Loras College will host two presentations focusing on peace. Both will be held in the Alumni Campus Center Ballroom and are free and open to the public. On Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, from 2–4 p.m., the presentation “Conflict Transformation in Families” will be offered. On Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010, from 7–8:30 p.m, a second presentation “Everyone a Peacemaker: Unleashing the Power of Nonviolent Change in Our Lives, Our Community and Our World” will be featured.

Both events will be presented by Ken Butigan, professor and activist for nonviolent change, who will explore how individuals and communities can become active agents for peace. Butigan has led more than 600 workshops on nonviolent change and authored five books. He is currently director of Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service in Chicago.

Between his presentations, Butigan will visit area high schools and colleges, asking “Can We Get a Little Peace Around Here? We’re All Part of the Solution to Violence.” He will explore with students ways to envision and build peace.

Other related events have been planned and are listed at: www.dbqdayofpeace.org.

For a brochure of the event click here.

For more information contact:

Art Roche: 563.581.6521
Dave Cochran: 563.588.7262
Sr. Patricia R. Farrell, OSF: 563.583.9786 (except from 8/25 to 9/6)

 

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Sister Carol Spiegel, BVM has Conflict Resolution Resource Book Published

Twelve years ago, when Carol Spiegel, BVM began her ministry as a Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution Educator, she had no idea that her work would engender the birth of a book.

After twenty-plus years of teaching math at Clarke College, Carol began working with elementary school teachers in St. Paul, Minn. Her goal was to set up a peacemaking and conflict resolution program in each elementary school where she worked, focusing on a crucial age for young students trying to address these issues.

During those years she focused on two or three schools per year, spending one or two days a week as a resource person and teaching classes as well. She found out that children identified with illustrated story books in children’s literature that depicted the real life issues facing them, with peaceful ways to address them.

As she continued in her ministry, Carol began to take stock of these books, compiling a list and continually researching new ones. She annotated each book for her own reference journal as she continued to seek out other appropriate books to add to her growing resource collection. “At the time,” she says, “I didn’t know I was writing a book.”

Through a series of serendipitous events, Carol’s book evolved. In 2004, she contacted ESR (Educators for Social Responsibility) because they had published several books she had used in her conflict ministry for young people. This resulted in a “work for hire” stint with ESR and led to the publication of Book by Book: An Annotated Guide to Young People’s Literature with Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution Themes in May, 2010.

 

 

 

Carol is pictured at right at her book signing at River Lights Bookstore on Sept. 18, 2010. 

 

 

To find out more about Carol’s book go to:

http://www.esrnational.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=87

 

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BVM Congregation Affirms Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Dubuque, IA–At its summer 2010 meeting in Chicago, the Senate of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary unanimously affirmed its support for comprehensive immigration reform. 

The Senate, the highest policy-making body of the 510-member congregation, said: “Conscious of the present suffering and injustices experienced by our 21st century immigrants and with an awareness that our current United States immigration policy is morally unacceptable, seriously flawed and out of date and in fidelity to the Word of God as spoken in Scripture, in our BVM Constitutions, and in the history of our congregation, We, the members of the 2010 Senate of the Sisters of Charity, BVM, do proclaim and affirm our commitment to comprehensive immigration reform.”

This position is consistent with BVM Constitution #17, which states, “As women of the Church we are called to give strong public witness against oppression brought about by unjust political and social structures locally, nationally and internationally.”

The congregation was founded 177 years ago by five Irish women who left Dublin to minister to the needs of Irish immigrants in North America. Today, BVMs serve in diverse ministries and many work with recent immigrants from different countries.

Sister Mary McCauley, BVM, one of the many sisters ministering to promote immigration reform, says, “The faces of so many of the immigrants that I had the privilege to serve in Postville, Iowa, remain in my mind and heart. I see pain, struggle, fear, hope, love, courage and deep faith; hence, it was with pride, gratitude, joy and a firm resolve that I welcomed the opportunity to stand with all BVMS as we affirmed our commitment to comprehensive immigration reform.”

 

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BVM Sisters Host Clarke University Students for Wii Bowling

When Clarke University President Joanne Burrows, SC, Ph.D., called Mary Astgen, Coordinator of Wellness at Mount Carmel, to propose a bowling get-together with Clarke students and BVMs, Mary readily agreed.

In fact, since the BVM Wii bowlers were already scheduled to bowl on Saturday, Sept. 18, at Mount Carmel, Mary invited the Clarke collegiate bowling team to join the sisters for some friendly competition.

What followed was an afternoon of fun and a great opportunity for the students to get to know the sisters. Sisters and students were combined on teams, and as the honors were awarded, Clarke students announced that they are “eager for a future rematch!”

Stay tuned for future developments on the Clarke/Carmel Competition in Wii bowling!

(Photos taken by BVM Amy Golm). 

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Want to Make a Difference? Volunteers are Needed for Service Trips!

The BVM Initial Membership and Associate Coordinating Teams are sponsoring two new opportunities for service and education!

This is a chance to bring people together to join with us in witnessing to the Gospel message of service. Volunteer opportunities include:

Ecuador Service Project—
April 4–13, 2011 

Registration Deadline: Feb. 1, 2011

Learn more about the ministry at the Working Boys’ Center in Quito, Ecuador, administered by BVMs Cindy Sullivan and Miguel Conway; and the education ministry of BVMs Saskia Alquinga Cahuatijo and Luann Brown. A day trip to Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Nuevo Mundo, administered by associates Pat McTeague and Sonya Rendon; and the Hansen’s ministry at Damien House, administered by BVM Ann Credidio; is also offered.

For more information contact:

Lou Anglin, BVM Initial Membership Coordinator: langlin@bvmcong.org

Elizabeth Avalos, BVM Associate Coordinator: eavalos@bvmcong.org

 

Dubuque Service Project—
April 8–10, 2011

Deadline: March 1, 2011

BVMs, associates and friends are invited to our first weekend service opportunity in Dubuque, Iowa. We will be working with several local organizations dedicated to serving the homeless and women and children. Overnight housing will be available at the BVM Center for those from out of town. Consider joining us and bringing a friend.

For more information contact:

Kathy Carr, BVM Initial Membership Coordinator at kcarr@bvm.cong.org

Nancy McCarthy, BVM Associate Coordinator at nancybvm@aol.com

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BVM ‘Knitwits’ Warm Heads and Hearts This Winter

On Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, Deb Bell, Director of the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP) in Dubuque, met with the BVM “Knitwits” at Mount Carmel to receive their donation of over 425 hand-knit hats.

As the group shared coffee, cocoa and snacks, Deb marveled at the kaleidoscope of knit hat colors and designs. From tiny infants’ hats in soft pastels to large, multi-patterned adult ones, no two hats were the same. Each one was painstakingly crafted by a sister intent on doing her part to help others keep warm this winter.

The first batch of 140 hats made this year by the sisters has already been sent out to Chicago, where BVM Patricia Kerz distributed the soft, warm hats to homeless men.

The hats that Deb Bell gathered on Wednesday will be distributed to local schools, hospitals and the Rescue Mission, among other places.

Annie Birch, an Activities Staff member for 12 years, keeps detailed binders of all the thank you cards, notes and letters sent from people and organizations receiving the hats.

One such letter came last November from Brian Meyer, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dubuque. He thanked the sisters for their support, saying, “It is people like the Sisters of Charity, BVM that assist us in meeting our mission.”

Annie also chronicles the story of the Knitwits in her binders, complete with photos of all the sisters who have been or are part of the group. In 2006, Sister Isidora Lorentz received a large box of looms and yarn as a Christmas gift, which she donated to the Activities Department. Activities Supervisor Julie Wessels, who knew how to “rake-knit,” taught Annie how to make a hat. Annie, in turn, began to show others, and in February 2007, the first “class” of the Knitwits was held. The sisters have also contributed their expertise to other donation projects, making quilts, afghans, dolls, stuffed toys and baby bassinet kits.

Current members of the busy group are: Jean Margaret Black, Paul Francis Bailey, Lydia Buntemeyer, Grace Ann Callan, Noella Cavallero, Catherine Dominick, Patricia Donahue, Frances Eileen Dunn, Madalyn Hogan, Susy Judge, Faith Lautz, Virginia McCaffrey, Carolita McMahon, Therese Miller, Geraldine Moorman, Carl Loras Pilmaier, Terisita Poulin, Joanna Rettenmeier, Nan Ross, Ernest Rothe, Gracia Schmidt, Joanne Schneider, Gertrude Sullivan, Paulina Sullivan, Therese Waughon, Carolyn Weibler and Elaine Wojcik.

The Knitwits meet every Monday in Loyola Hall. A friendly competition exists between the “North” and “South” Knitwits groups, who live at opposite ends of the Mount Carmel campus.

But their goal is the same: to reach out and touch lives and hearts in a special way, helping others to keep warm in winter with a soft knit hat—created with love.     

  

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Carol Cook, BVM (Conrad Ann) Honored at OPAHA Dinner

On Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010, Carol Cook, BVM was honored at the Oak Park/Austin Health Alliance (OPAHA) Community Labor Dinner.

At left, Carol is pictured holding her award, which reads: "For her steadfast support of the campaign to protect the future of West Suburban Medical Center and Westlake Hospital and for her untiring and inspiring commitment to justice."

Carol and other BVMs have been involved for several years in the HEART/AFSCME campaign (www.reformresurrection.org). This is an alliance of Resurrection Health Care employees and community members who work for patient and employee rights and help foster community input.

With the pending sale of two Resurrection Hospitals, she continues to be involved in the campaign to secure the future of West Suburban and Westlake Community Hospitals.

The event was held at Euclid Avenue Methodist Church in Oak Park, Ill.

 

 

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Joan Fitzgerald, BVM (John Raymond) Receives Guardian of Hope Award

Sister Joan Fitzgerald received the Guardian of Hope Award as a top Catholic educator, presented by the Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Schools at a dinner program on Oct. 23, 2010.

Most Reverend Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said, “Sr. Joan Fitzgerald, in her almost 50 years of service to Xavier College Preparatory, has contributed to the intellectual and spiritual formation of thousands of young women.”

Xavier has won many awards for excellence in academics, athletics and activities programs. The school has grown from 400 to 1,200 students and the campus expanded to three times its original size.

The program brochure states that during Joan’s tenure, “Xavier has emerged as one of the best high schools in the state of Arizona” and that “as a pioneering woman of faith, Sr. Joan continues to be a Guardian of Hope for Catholic education in our diocese.”

Two other recipients also received the Award as Benefactor of Catholic Schools and Catholic Alumnus. Superintendent of Schools MaryBeth Mueller said, “These three individuals exemplify, each in his or her own way, what it means to live out the values of the Gospel.” 

The mission of Night of Hope is to make a Catholic education in the Diocese of Phoenix affordable and accessible to those who truly want to bring up their children in a loving, faith-filled environment through their scholarship endowment fund.

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Sisters Remembering Sisters

The Catholic Sisters of the Dubuqueland area invite you to a special commemoration event on Dec. 2, 2010, to honor the four church women who were martyred in El Salvador 30 years ago on this date.

Sister Dorothy Kazel, OSU, Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke, and their associate Jean Donavan were beaten, raped and murdered the night of Dec. 2, 1980, as they returned from the local airport. Their crime was helping the poor. Five members of the National Guard of El Salvador were responsible for their deaths.

The prayer service will be held at the Cathedral of St. Raphael in Dubuque on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010, at 7 p.m. followed by a social in the Cathedral Center. All are welcome.

 

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BVM BLOG: Advent Reflections

http://www.bvmcong.org/blog.cfm

 

• Sr. Harriet Holles, BVM: Fourth Sunday of Advent
• BVM Associate Dan Abben: Third Sunday of Advent – Live the Questions
• Sr. Ann Marie Dress, BVM: Second Sunday of Advent
• Sr. Joanne Lucid, BVM: First Sunday of Advent – Come, Come O Emmanuel.

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Ann Ida Gannon, BVM Honored in Chicago

Sister Ann Ida Gannon, BVM was honored as “one of Chicago’s most renowned educators” at a reception, dinner and program held at the Newberry Library in Chicago, Ill., on Dec. 8, 2010. She is pictured at left speaking at her award ceremony.

This event celebrated the launch of the Sister Ann Ida Gannon Initiative to catalog, preserve and provide access to early modern religious books and manuscripts at the Newberry Library.

To read more about the Sister Ann Ida Gannon Initiative and view photos of the event at Newberry Library, go to:

http://www.newberry.org/media/GannonInitiativeAnnounced.html and

https://go.newberry.org/Page.aspx?pid=550&srctid=1&erid=96850

Listen to Sister Ann Ida upon receiving the award: http://www.facebook.com/bvmsisters or http://www.youtube.com/bvmsisters

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Kathryn Lawlor, BVM (John Laurian) Publishes Book

From Here to There by Sister Kathryn Lawlor, BVM has just been published. Chronicling 30 years of Sisters of Charity, BVM history, from pre-Vatican II to post-Vatican II, her book focuses on the leadership during these turbulent years of Mother Mary Josita Baschnagel, Mother Mary Consolatrice Wright and Sister Mary Roberta Kuhn, the first BVM president.

In her foreword to the book, Secretary of the Congregation Regina M. Qualls, BVM, says: “It is the story of an evolution within the BVM congregation . . . Josita, Consolatrice and Roberta were strong women who faced the challenges, demands and expectations particular to their time and responded according to their own individual insights. Most BVMs now living experienced some or all of the changes and events described in this book . . . Kathryn provides a context for our memories. She reveals, especially through letters, the hopes and heartaches of these three women and fills in the gaps in our memories of these years.”

View Kathryn Lawlor talk about her new book.

Copies of From Here to There are available for $10.00.

Contact:

Office of the Secretary
Rosie Bechen @ rbechen@bvmcong.org
588-2351, ext. 5539
BVM Center
1100 Carmel Dr.
Dubuque, Iowa 52003

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Sisters of Charity, BVM Sell Wright Hall to Loyola University Chicago

The Sisters of Charity, BVM have sold Wright Hall, located at 6364 N. Sheridan Rd. in Chicago, to Loyola University Chicago. The sale includes a 55,633 sq. ft. site consisting of a 70-unit, 11-story residential building, and a 25,633 sq. ft. parking lot. The property was sold in a cash deal for $9.5 million.

The North Side residential building was built in 1959 by the Sisters of Charity, BVM to house members attending Mundelein College. It is now home to retired BVMs, who will relocate to the Motherhouse in Dubuque, Iowa, by the end of March 2011.

“We are so pleased that this building will continue to be a place of Catholic tradition, social justice and education,” said BVM President Mary Ann Zollmann. “It will be bittersweet to say goodbye to this cherished home with so many wonderful memories, but we are grateful that it will continue to be a place that enriches the soul.” 

“Loyola is pleased to have been able to reach an agreement with the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the purchase of Wright Hall. We recognize that this building represents the last piece of property that was owned by the Sisters during the decades of Mundelein College. In honor of their contribution to our neighborhood and city, Loyola plans to rename the building B.V.M. Hall to recognize the work of the Sisters,” commented Wayne Magdziarz, VP, Capital Planning and Chief of Staff, Loyola University Chicago.

CR|Daccord was hired to market the property in April 2010. “Selling a redevelopment opportunity in this market is about finding the right fit for our clients,” said David Ariola, Managing Partner, CR|Daccord. “Each of our clients has their own set of requirements for a sale and we were pleased to find a buyer who shared common values, spirit and commitment with the Sisters of Charity, BVM.”

Loyola said the property will allow for the expansion of its Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy and be a catalyst toward the university’s vision to create an Institute of Environmental Sustainability. 

For Media Inquires:

Angie Connolly, Sisters of Charity, BVM
(563) 588-2351
aconnolly@bvmcong.org

Maeve Kiley, Loyola University Chicago
(312) 915-7712
mkiley2@luc.edu

 David Ariola, CR|Daccord
(312) 464-0597
dariola@crdaccord.com

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Women’s Leadership at the Crossroads: Markers of the Past, Guideposts for the Future

The Sisters of Charity, BVM and Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa, are cosponsoring the presentation, Women’s Leadership at the Crossroads: Markers of the Past, Guideposts for the Future, on Saturday, March 12, 2011. The event will be held in the Alumnae Lecture Hall, Catherine Byrne Hall, Clarke University, from 1:30–4:30 p.m.

The goal of the presentation is to reflect on women’s leadership in the past, consider women’s leadership today, and draw inspiration to face the challenges in the future.

Inspired by the Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America exhibit that will be on display at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium from Feb. 18–May 22, the program features Kathleen Sprows Cummings as presenter (pictured below). Cummings is associate professor of American studies and associate director, Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, University of Notre Dame.

Cumming’s teaching and research interests include the history of women and American religion and the study of U.S. Catholicism. Her first book, New Women of the Old Faith: Gender and American Catholicism in the Progressive Era, appeared last year from the University of North Carolina Press. Currently she is working on a new book, Citizen Saints: Catholics and Canonization in American Culture and received an NEH Fellowship to support work on this project during the academic year 2010–11.

The panel of responders at the presentation includes: Clare Wagner, OP, spiritual director, Madison, Wis.; Andrew Auge, professor of English, Loras College, Dubuque; Rachel Daack, associate professor of sociology, Clarke University; Teri Hawks Goodmann, assistant city manager, City of Dubuque.

The presentation is free of charge and open to the public. Parking is available in the Wahlert parking lot.

Click here to view poster of event:

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Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM Honored Feb. 10, 2011, on “Bobblehead Night” at Loyola University

Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM was honored in a unique way at the Loyola/Milwaukee basketball game on Feb. 10, 2011, at the Gentile Center, Loyola University Chicago. The first 900 spectators to present a valid ID received a Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM “bobblehead.”

Sister Jean has been in Chicago for nearly half a century, holding various positions at Mundelein College over the years. In 1997 she became the only woman chaplain at Loyola University, combining a love of sports with her love of ministry. Her enthusiasm and availability is reflected in her gift of time for the basketball teams, students and staff at Loyola who need a listening, caring presence.

Read more about “Sister Jean Bobblehead Night” at:

http://loyolaramblers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/020211aac.html

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Mary McCauley, BVM (Mercedie) Presents Immigration Video at Mount Carmel Motherhouse

Sister Mary McCauley, BVM, presented “The Postville Raid: What Mother Church Can Do” to the BVM sisters at Mount Carmel recently.

She was one of six featured speakers at the Celebration Publications Conference Jan. 12–14, 2011, in San Antonio, Texas, and first presented this video at the conference. Established in 1972, Celebration is the worship resource publication of the National Catholic Reporter.

Sister Mary was serving as pastoral administrator at St. Bridget Church in Postville, Iowa, at the time of the U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) raid in 2008. As she said in her presentation at Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington, D.C., in March 2010, “My deepest hope is that the Postville story will have the power, not only to transform hearts, but ultimately to transform our current immigration laws.”

The conference, “A Light to the Nations: Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the Church’s Global Commitment to the Poor” focused on the pivotal role of the Church in providing an ethical framework for the national immigration debate. Issues of worship, preaching and liturgy and how they can be instrumental in uniting voices for global justice, human rights and compassion will be addressed.

To see Sister Mary's presentation, visit: http://bvmsisters.blip.tv/.

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Dubuque Catholic Sisters Art Exhibit at Carnegie-Stout Public Library!

The Carnegie-Stout Public Library is hosting the Local Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America Art Exhibit beginning Tuesday, Feb. 22 through Sunday, May 22, 2011. The exhibit is connected to the national “Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters In America” traveling exhibition making its way to The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium Feb. 18 through May 22, 2011.

This new exhibit brings together the talent of artists from five local Catholic Sisters congregations for the community to enjoy. The exhibition, with over fifty pieces of art, features the works of innovative, action-oriented women who played a significant role in shaping the community’s cultural and social landscape. 

The diverse art collection displays a wide range of media created over several historical periods, from late 19th century works to contemporary ones. Each of the participating congregations of the Dubuque Franciscans, Sisters of the Presentation, Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Preview BVM Artwork), Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, and the Sisters of the Visitation selected up to ten pieces reflecting its art collection for this exhibit. 

The exhibit is located in the library’s newly renovated historic second floor rotunda and is open during regular library hours. 

The public is invited to attend the opening reception on Friday, March 4, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to meet some of the artists and join in the spirit. 

For more information please contact the library at (563) 589-4225 and ask for Library Administration or visit the Library website, or check us out on Facebook.

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Catholic Sisters Promote “Plastic Bag Fast”

The inter-congregational Task Force on Earth Sustainability launched a “Plastic Bag Fast” on Ash Wednesday, 2011, to help foster awareness and stewardship of creation.

Co-chairs of the task force, Sisters Joy Peterson, PBVM, and Shell Balek, OSF, urge each congregation to advocate this project on their community websites by sharing what they are doing. “Kicking the Plastic Bag Habit” is just the beginning of a more extensive sustainability project that is being developed by the task force and promoted by the Catholic Sisters of the Upper Mississippi Valley.

To aid in the “Fasting From Plastic” project, Michelle Balke, OSF, wrote and shares “Our Lenten Journey—Toward Healthy Habits for a Sustainable World,” which contains special reflections, information and action materials for use specific to each week of Lent.

At Mount Carmel in Dubuque, large poster boards promoting the “Plastic Bag Fast” (like the one pictured at left) are rotated throughout the complex each week to help raise awareness. “Our Lenten Journey” is featured on the BVM public website homepage and can be downloaded for use throughout Lent. Mount Carmel activities staff have also created useful items from plastic bags, helping to encourage and generate ideas for recycling.

A documentary film, “Bag It,” will be offered at various locations throughout the tri-state area as part of the promotion. Examining society’s use and abuse of plastic through the lens of a young American man on a “plastics” mission, “Bag It” is guaranteed to have its viewers looking at the world of plastic in a whole new way.

In Dubuque, the Catholic sisters are joining with seven area organizations to co-sponsor viewings of “Bag It” at the Mindframe Theater, 555 JFK Rd., at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 26, and Saturday, April 2. The other sponsors include Mindframe Theater; Wahlert High School’s SAVE Club; the Inter-Congregational Ecological Working Group; Green Dubuque; the White Pine Group of the Sierra Club; Keep Dubuque County Clean and Green; the Dubuque County Conservation Society; the Sisters of Charity, BVM, Dubuque; the Sisters of Humility, Davenport; the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton and Dubuque; the Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque; and the Sinsinawa Dominicans.

The “Plastic Bag Fast” project is catching on in the area, with other organizations, schools and churches pledging to abstain from using plastic during the Lenten season.

 

 

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BVM Ann Chaput Publishes Book and Teaching Edition about Mary

Sister Ann Chaput, BVM has published a book, We Learn About Mary and Her Feast Days, by Liturgy Training Publications, Chicago, designed to be used for second to fifth graders.

Ann's book is accompanied by the teachers edition that she wrote: We Learn About Mary and Her Feast Days Teaching Edition: Handbook for Teachers and Catechists, which provides teachers and catechists with background information to enrich classroom sessions. It quotes from a number of Church documents to enhance teacher understanding about the regard that the church holds for Mary.

The book begins with the "Nativity of Mary" and covers nearly all of the days on the universal liturgical calendar and the feast days of Mary. The last chapters examine "Mary in Other Cultures" and include "Prayers to Mary." This interactive book features activities, fill-in-the-blanks, and drawings to color.

Mary G. Fox, editor of Liturgy Training Publications, says, “Not only will children learn about the feasts and solemnities that we honor Mary, but they will come to an understanding of her as the first disciple of Jesus. They will be taught that it is through Mary that we come to learn to love Jesus more deeply.”

Jo-Ann Metzdorff, D.Min., pastoral associate at Church of St. Mary, N.Y., provides the book’s testimonial on the back cover:

“This book is an excellent means of introducing children to Mary. The presentation is straightforward, excellent for use with different age groups, and the illustrations delightful. I am particularly impressed with the Teachers Edition, which contains a wealth of knowledge that can also be used by adult formation and RCIA catechists as well as those working with children.”

For more information about Ann's book go to: www.LTP.org.

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Mount Carmel Motherhouse Porch Undergoes Metamorphosis

Each summer the Sisters of Charity, BVM participate in the Birdies for Charity® (BFC) program through the John Deere Classic PGA Tournament. In 2009, 582 donors “chipped in” the “Birdies” fundraiser, with over $50,000 raised.

The proceeds were earmarked for several improvements now complete on the Mount Carmel campus, including the restoration and “facelift” of the screened-in porch on the first floor of the Motherhouse.

Work on the sun porch began in October 2010 and was completed in December (see photo).

First, concrete was poured for a foundation wall where the original steps had been removed, and for a new foundation for the lower level “garden room” floor, where sisters store garden tools.

A decorative concrete finish was then applied to the foundation walls to make them look similar to the stone of the Motherhouse ground floor area. A new stain coating also gives a fresh look and protection to the sun room floor. Finally, the new sun porch was installed, as well as a new door for the ground floor garden room.

As we usher in spring, sisters at Mount Carmel Motherhouse now have a pleasant place to relax, pray and enjoy nature.    

If you would like to participate in the Birdies for Charity® fundraiser, contact the BVM Development Office: development@bvmcong.org.

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Joyce Cox, BVM Receives Faith Award in April 2011

Joyce Cox , BVM received the “Hero of Faith Award” from Temple B’nai Torah on Friday, April 8, 2011, in a Shabbat (Sabbath) service in the temple in Bellevue, Wash. Rabbi James Mirel, senior rabbi of the Reform Jewish congregation, said, “Sister Joyce is very worthy of this award and she is the first woman, first Roman Catholic recipient.”

Joyce serves as the archbishop’s delegate in the Archdiocese of Seattle and is currently director of formation and spiritual direction at The Palisades Archdiocesan Retreat & Faith Formation Center in Federal Way.

She co-founded the Children of Abraham in August 2001, a dialogue group comprised of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders formed to help facilitate knowledge and understanding among the three faiths. She also serves with the American Jewish Committee and helps to plan the yearly HaShoa commemoration and the Week of Christian Unity.

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Sisters of Charity Receive Award from DMASWA

The Sisters of Charity, BVM were presented with an award on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, from the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency at their 6th Annual Construction, Demolition, Deconstruction and Renovation (CDDR) Workshop held at the Grand River Convention Center, Dubuque. The agency recognized approximately 15 organizations and individuals for diverting waste from landfills.

DMASWA Agency Administrator Chuck Goddard presented the award to the Sisters of Charity, BVM for their involvement in the deconstruction project on their property at 1965 S. Grandview Ave., Dubuque, where green methods of deconstructing, recycling, reusing, and reducing environmental waste were employed.

Mount Carmel Fleet Operations Manager Russ Hemann, who oversaw the project, accepted the award on behalf of the sisters.

 

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Catholic Peace Ministry Honors Women Religious for Seeking Justice and ‘Waging Peace’

The Sisters of Charity, BVM were among the Catholic Women Religious communities recognized at the 16th Annual Bishop Maurice J. Dingman Peace Award celebration on April 2, 2011, at Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Catholic Church in Ankeny, Iowa.

Catholic Peace Ministry, based in Des Moines, presented the program and award to recognize women religious who have dedicated their lives and ministries to justice and peace efforts. Sr. M. Johanna Rickl, CHM, accepted the award in recognition of all the communities.

For over 150 years, Catholic sisters have actively served in Iowa in education, healthcare, housing, poverty and other social service areas.

Three congregations began ministry long ago in what is now the Des Moines diocese, and they continue to work there today: Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubuque, Iowa; Congregation of the Humility of Mary, Davenport, Iowa; and Sisters of Mercy, Omaha, Neb. They and a number of other congregations that have served in the diocese were honored at the presentation.

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Ghana Library Celebrates National Library Week!

Learning Centre Opens New Doors to Education

The dedication and opening of the new Archbishop Mensah Learning Centre on Jan. 15, 2011, has been just the beginning of a new era of learning for children and adults in Kumasi, Ghana. The sisters feel very blessed by the generous prayers and support that continue to keep their dream alive.

 At the dedication, celebrated on Martin Luther King Day, BVMs Irene Lukefahr and Laurene Brady shared their initial vision of a community learning center and the events that helped realize this dream. But as these BVMs add, “Dreams continue,” and in a spirit of grateful thanksgiving, they look to the future, envisioning other dreams to help complete the learning center.

Sisters Provide Update in Honor of National Library Week

Sister Irene says, “Since April 10–16 is National Library Week in the U.S., we want to update everyone on the ‘good old library’ in Kumasi!” She reports that the Learning Centre doors opened in mid-January and nearly 800 participants from approximately 36 schools come for books on a regular basis. An adult education program offers one-on-one tutoring to about 25 students. Over 7,700 books have been circulated in the past two months. “The Learning Centre continues to grow in way we did not expect,” Sister Irene says.

She adds that running water and electricity are now available “most of the time” and they are grateful for that and the ceiling fans that provide cooling on hot afternoons. Carpenters are creating additional bookcases to hold hundreds of adult books which were recently donated from the Ghana Book Trust, and boxes of teen/children’s books collected by library friends in the U.S. will soon be arriving. “Books will always be needed as well as funding to mail new/recycled books to Kumasi,” Sister Irene explains. “God continues to provide!”

The Learning Centre staff keeps busy repairing, cataloging and shelving books, welcoming newcomers and learning all the details of a library.

How it Began

Since December of 2006, Sister Laurene began sharing books with children who came weekly to the center where she worked. In 2007, Sister Irene joined her, to help with the increasing number of students coming for books.

By 2008, it became necessary for the sisters to set up two temporary library sites for the children. One was in a classroom at St. Hubert’s Secondary School. The other was on the front porch of the sisters’ residence. Adults who wanted to learn English or who had never had the opportunity to attend school soon joined the group, tutored by Sister Laurene.

Progress of the library project since the ground-breaking ceremony in May 2010 has been consistently updated by the sisters in blogs and photos. On Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010, the official 'Handing-Over' ceremony was held, where sisters Laurene and Irene received the keys to the library.

Though they have raised much of the funds needed to pay for construction of the library, the sisters rely on donations from the U.S. and are also focusing on soliciting donations from the local Ghanaian community.

To view photo albums of students in the new learning center, the construction phase and the dedication ceremony, click on the links below:

 http://www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_album_detail.cfm?galleryID=74

 http://www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_album_detail.cfm?galleryID=63

 http://www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_album_detail.cfm?galleryID=58

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Sisters of Charity, BVM Receive Volunteer Award

The Sisters of Charity, BVM were honored at the 4th Annual Opening Doors Volunteer Appreciation Celebration held on April 28, 2011, at Stone Cliff Winery in Dubuque, Iowa. This year the organization chose to honor four women’s religious orders who have provided great support to Opening Doors consistently through the years.

Opening Doors is a community service organization initiated by six Catholic women's religious congregations in the Dubuque area. It was founded to assist women needing emergency/transitional housing. Maria House and Teresa Shelter in Dubuque help to meet these needs.

Mary McCauley, BVM(r.), a board member of Opening Doors, and Joan Redden, BVM, a volunteer at Maria House in Dubuque, accepted the award on behalf of the Sisters of Charity, BVM. Development and Marketing Advisor Carol Anderson, Opening Doors: Maria House and Teresa Shelter, said, “It’s a night that’s all about thanking our volunteers for all that they do!”

In addition to the BVMs, the other orders honored were the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Family, Dubuque; Dominican Sisters, Sinsinawa; and the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubuque.

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“Dubuque’s Got Sisters!” Welcomes Women for 24-hour Tour

"Dubuque's Got Sisters!" hosted a 24-hour tour of four motherhouses in the tri-state area April 29 and 30, 2011.

 

Thirteen women came together to share a look at religious life. The event included prayer, meals, a presentation about each women religious community, and input on religious life in general. 

 

The women ranged in age from 19-55 and came from a variety of places. Highlights included sharing meals with sisters, hearing about their lives and vocation stories, and time for discernment with other women.

 

Many participants in the group indicated that they wanted to know more and wished the time spent together had been longer.

 

Lou Anglin, BVM Initial Membership Coordinator, says, "With fewer sisters in active ministry in all our congregations,  one of our challenges is to build awareness that religious life continues to be a viable option for those called to it."

 

“Dubuque’s Got Sisters!” is sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubuque Franciscan Sisters and Sinsinawa (Wis.) Dominican Sisters. 

 

“Hospitality—welcoming, nurturing, making comfortable—is key to who BVMs are,” says Lou. “We are glad to share what has been so generously given us by God.”

 

The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary are women of steadfast love called to live the mission of Jesus through the core values of Freedom, Charity, Education and Justice. For 176 years, BVMs have ministered to those in need in numerous parts of the world. Currently, BVMs minister in 23 U.S. states, and in Ecuador, Guatamala and Ghana. Ministries include education, pastoral work, spiritual development, health care, justice advocacy and business services. 

 

To learn more about religious life contact:

Sr. Lou Anglin, BVM at langlin@bvmcong.org or call her at 563-588-2351.

 

Tour our website to find out more about the BVMs and how to join us in this amazing vocation.

 

Click here to view "Dubuque's Got Sisters" pdf. file.

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Old Jail Museum in Dubuque, Iowa, Announces ‘Catholic Sisters’ Exhibit

The Sisters of Charity, BVM are one of 12 religious orders of Catholic sisters featured in an exhibit on display from May 28 through Sept. 5, 2011, at the the Old Jail Museum in Dubuque: “Catholic Sisters of the Upper Mississippi River Valley; Great River, Great Needs, and Women of Great Service.”

The Catholic sisters of the Upper Mississippi founded and staffed schools, clinics and orphanages in the area and many of these ministries still thrive today. This collection uniquely displays how these women of service became leaders in shaping the history of the region.

The exhibit features BVM photos, stories and artifacts, including shoemaking tools used by Sr. Mary Bernard Murray, BVM, who served as cobbler from 1892 to 1905; a painting based upon photographs taken at St. Joseph's on the Prairie (site of the rural boarding school and motherhouse of the BVMs) by M.F. Reilly (who studied from 1907 to 1919 with Sr. M. Josephine Clarke, BVM); a bronze bust of Mary Frances Clarke, commissioned in 1939, the work of early 20th century sculptor Vincenzo Miserendino; and much more. 

Examples of the BVM photographs featured at the exhibit are pictured below:

The Clarke University class of 1907
sets out with chauffeurs for their first
class picnic in locally manufactured
automobiles, courtesy of Adams-Farwell
Motors.

 

 

A moment in time captures the fresh
faces of young scholars at St. Patrick
Grade School in Dubuque, complete
with bright smiles, blinks, squints,
dimples and curious gazes.

 

The Old Jail Museum is Dubuque’s local history museum, displaying artifacts, photographs and a sound and light presentation. Built in 1857, it is a national landmark jail and one of only two Egyptian revival style jails in the country.

The museum is open from 11–4 daily. Admission is $5 for adults and $3.50 for children. Members of the Dubuque County Historical Society are admitted free.

For more information contact the Dubuque County Historical Society at 563-557-9545 or click on the link below:

http://www.bvmcong.org/downloads/JailMuseum.pdf

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Mary Ann Zollmann, BVM Honored as Guest Speaker at Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce Event: 'Get to Know a CEO'

Sr. Mary Ann Zollmann, BVM was invited to be the guest speaker at the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon event, “Get to Know a CEO,” held at the LMay Eatery in Dubuque, Iowa, on June 3, 2011.

“As president of a congregation of sisters, being a 'CEO' is being sister,” Mary Ann explained to the group. She recalls that this feeling of sisterhood began at the family table of her childhood, where she learned that everyone had something worthwhile to share with others around the table. She credits her “BVM sisterhood” with experiences that have helped her to learn from her students and from people she has met around the world.

“I experience the relational power of sisterhood in our civic community,” she said, “and together we make a difference.” She noted the collaborative accomplishments of area sisters, from housing for homeless women and children to educational centers for the community; from pastoral care in local hospitals to a presence in elementary, secondary and college level schools.

“Our BVM community life is defined by the hallmarks of sisterhood: constant attempts at care and inclusion, mutuality and reciprocity. This is the spirit that inspires all I am and do,” Mary Ann shared.  "As sister to and with a community of laity here in Dubuque, I and all of us women religious experience what it is like to work collaboratively to make our city a welcoming one for all . . . to work side by side with the people of Dubuque in an array of volunteer projects and events."

Local business leaders; Clarke University President Joanne Burrows, SC; and representatives from area women’s religious congregations were among the Chamber guests for the luncheon.

Click to view Sr. Mary Ann's presentation.

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Ann Credidio, BVM Shares Her Voice and Heart in Healing Ministry

Sr. Ann Credidio, BVM first went to Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 1985. Later, while working in the preschool at Nuevo Mundo School, she volunteered time in “art therapy” for patients with Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) at the Hansen wing in the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Guayaquil.

There she saw many injustices. Patients suffered from infestations of rats, roaches, lice, scabies and bed sores as well as malnutrition and anemia. The facilities lacked basic necessities and repairs, and had an unbearable stench. Patients had open sores due to the lack of bandages and salves. They lacked decent clothes, shoes and orthopedic devices. Many beds were missing springs, mattresses and sheets. Basics toiletries were not provided. Dental work and adequate wound care were sorely needed.

Fundación Padre Damián Founded
Recognizing the urgent need for action, but with no financial resources, Annie was encouraged by her friends at Nuevo Mundo, BVM Associates Celeste and Sonya Rendon, Pat McTeague and others. She began making contact with local people who could help her establish a foundation. She needed funding from the United States to make a difference, and with her friend Suzanne Belz, Damien House, Inc. was established in Chicago in 1991. That same year, she left Nuevo Mundo to become completely involved with the patients in the Hansen wing. The following year, 1992, she founded the Fundación Padre Damián in Guayaquil with a group of Ecuadorian friends.

The Fundación “took over” the Hansen wing of the hospital. Like a whirlwind, Annie and the workers began to clean up everything. They employed staff for the kitchen, wound care, therapeutic activities, maintenance and other professionals as needed.

Annie met other challenges. Working alongside the Hospital for Infectious Disease staff and administration to provide for the needs of Hansen’s patients resulted in a power struggle. Disagreements about the use of donations as well as provisions for necessary repairs were at the heart of the problem. Such a partnership was further jeopardized by the constant turnover of hospital personnel.

Heartbreaking Challenges
Some situations and circumstances tugged at Annie’s heart strings. Among these was seeing patients die after surgery because pain medications and antibiotics were unavailable, having been sold on the streets. Patients died of bleeding stomach ulcers, in pain, because there was no money to send them to local hospitals. Patients that suffered from dementia were harassed by other patients and isolated in empty rooms to prevent them from wandering through the hospital. Patients went blind because there was no money for cataract surgery.

There were some patients in particular who called forth a loving, caring heart from Annie. Andres was a blind patient with no teeth, fingers or toes who, besides suffering from Hansen’s disease, also had cancer. One day he went hungry because no one fed him. Nineteen-year-old José died of kidney failure because the doctors were giving him high doses of cortisone without monitoring the effects of the medicine on his system.

Hansen’s Disease is curable. Patients receive a “chemotherapy cocktail” of three different drugs. Once cured, however, the conditions of poverty, non-potable water and unsanitary conditions can cause recurrence of the disease if patients resume poor hygiene habits and/or fail to get regular checkups. Education on hygiene and proper medication help patients to recover and live healthy lives.

Hansen’s Disease patients still have no rights or voice and are not well-received in local hospitals. Despite all the information available on the disease, the social stigma is still very strong today. Some of the elderly patients in the hospital are cured of the disease, but have no place to go, having been rejected completely by family. Presently there are 43 patients.

Outside Awareness and Involvement Offers Encouragement
Annie recalls many successes since she began this ministry. She is buoyed up by the annual visits of medical teams, including orthopedic surgeons who do nerve compression surgeries, which prevent damage to limbs and restore the use of hands, feet, etc.  Also, ophthalmologists perform eye surgeries while physical therapy teams work with the patients. Many visitors and volunteers come to provide other services and activities for the patients. Many recipients of BVM Mary Frances Clarke Scholarships have procured work in hospitals, schools and other facilities.

Annie has learned what it means to “walk humbly with God.” Primarily it is the faith of the patients which motivates and supports her in her daily ministry. “They depend totally on God for their existence. Their doors, arms and hearts are always open. They receive everyone with pure joy. How can I be otherwise? They teach me to be grateful for what I have and never take for granted my health, my family and all of God’s gifts.”

When one accompanies Annie on her rounds, her strength, energy, enthusiasm and sheer love are evident in the smiles and hugs she receives from the patients. The daily scriptures help keep her rooted. “When I arrived in Ecuador, I was inspired by other amazing projects such as Nuevo Mundo and the Centro del Muchacho Trabajador. Associates Pat McTeague and Sonia Rendón, BVMs Cindy Sullivan and Miguel Conway and John Halligan, SJ, continue to show me how much of an impact can be made with a dream and total faith in God.” She also draws strength from the support she receives from family, friends, her BVM family, benefactors, volunteers and visitors.

Annie’s daily struggle to “keep on keeping on” is continually challenged by financial straits. A sagging economy in the United States as well as Ecuadorian economic deterioration and governmental coups have seriously affected donations. Transportation is limited to her “Marius Mobile,” a 23-year-old car donated by deceased BVM Marius Mei, a successful mission fundraiser in the San Jose Diocese. The valiant Fiat has transported patients, wheelchairs, donations and even a coffin. It has survived El Niño and an accident, but like Annie, it keeps going!

For more information on Damien House, visit: www.thedamienhouse.org.

About the author:
Judith Callahan, BVM (Eugene Mary) has served as educator, administrator, director of Hispanic ministry and parish minister. Currently she works as a tutor/translator in Dubuque, Iowa.

 

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Stations of the Cross Booklet Available!

In tribute to BVM life at Wright Hall in Chicago, a second printing of Stations of the Cross: Reflections by Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been published and is now available as a keepsake of a treasured time and place.

The booklet depicts the mosaic Stations of the Cross created by Edmund Demers, then associate professor of art at Clarke College, who was commissioned in 1958 by Helen Wright, BVM.

For over half a century, Demers’ extraordinary work has fostered personal spiritual encounters with the passion of Christ, and inspired the BVM authors’ reflections in each of the booklet’s Stations of the Cross.

Sara McAlpin, BVM (Philip Mary) served as project coordinator, Communications Director Angie Connolly designed and produced the booklet, and Lucy A. Kennedy photographed the mosaic art.

To order your copy, contact: rbechen@bvmcong.org

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Ann Chaput, BVM Honored for Ministry Service

Sr. Ann Chaput, BVM, was honored at a Rite of Calling prayer service held Sunday, June 25, 2011, at Our Lady of Hope in Rosemont, Ill., for her ministry in religious education in the Chicago Archdiocese.

Cardinal Francis George, who presided at the service, greeted the honorees individually, presenting each with an Archdiocesan candle and certificate. The prayer service concluded with pictures taken of the honorees with Cardinal George, who personally thanked each one. 

Ann recently completed two years as director of faith formation at St. Dismas Parish, a small multicultural parish in Waukegan, Ill. Her second book, the Lectionary for 2011–2012 for Intermediate Grades, was published in April 2011 by Liturgy Training Publications (LTP), Chicago.

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Award-Winning Book Includes Chapter Written by Mary Christine Athans, BVM

The work of Sr. Mary Christine Athans, BVM, Ph.D. (Christophil), is included in the book Reclaiming Catholicism: Treasures Old and New, edited by Thomas H. Groome and Michael J. Daley and published in 2010 by Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y. Christine wrote the chapter, “Fr. Charles E. Coughlin: The Radio Priest.”

The book, a collection of original essays and reflections by leading theologians and spiritual writers, received first place in the history category of the 2011 Catholic Press Association (CPA) Awards announced in June. Founded in 1911, the CPA has more than 600 member organizations, reaching over 26 million people.

Last year, Christine’s extended article “Courtesy, Confrontation, Cooperation: Jewish-Christian/Catholic Relations in the U.S.” was published in the U.S. Catholic Historian (Summer 2010) pp. 107–134, and is also available on the Boston College website at:

 http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/scjr/article/view/1577/1430

Christine is professor emerita at the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas (Minn.), and adjunct faculty of Catholic Theological Union (CTU) and Loyola University Chicago.

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Forty-two Years Later, At Risk Student Says,

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BVM Pat Thalhuber's Book Now Available on Kindle

Originally published in 2007 by Living Justice Press in St. Paul, Minn., Building a Home for the Heart: Using Metaphors in Value-Centered Circles, written by Sr. Patricia Thalhuber, BVM (Herbert Mary), and Susan Thompson, is now available on Amazon.com in the Kindle Edition.

In the book’s foreward, Kay Pranis says, “Pat and Susan have chosen metaphors as a tool to help us bring our hearts and spirits into dialogue with our heads and with each other . . . These are the critical conversations of our time, and this book is a guide for having these conversations.”

Pat explains that the book is designed to stimulate thinking about the meaning of core values and to describe specific ways that we can generate dialogue about them in groups. The “Circle-based” framework that is presented in the book can be used by families, friends, co-workers or neighbors.

To order your Kindle version or read more about the book, go to:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005AXWD66

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Joan Lingen, BVM is Recipient of Distinguished Alumni Award

Sr. Joan Lingen, BVM (Ramone Mary) will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement from Clarke University on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011, at the Alumni Recognition Brunch.

Each year at its Homecoming, Clarke University recognizes two distinguished alumni: one who has attained outstanding success and achievement in his or her profession, and one who has made exceptional contributions in service to humanity. Joan Lingen (’61) will be presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award and Jeanne Powers Quann (’66) will receive the Humanitarian Service Award.

Joan is the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs at Clarke University and was also an art professor there for many years.

To register for the luncheon go to:

http://www.clarke.edu/form.aspx?ekfrm=22588

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Carmel Catholic High School Celebrates 50 Years

Carmel Catholic High School will begin its year-long celebration of 50 years of Catholic secondary education in the BVM and Carmelite traditions with a liturgy and dinner on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011, at 3:00 p.m., at CCHS Baker Stadium in Mundelein, Ill. BVM President Mary Ann Zollmann will be the guest homilist. 

Founded and jointly sponsored by the Sisters of Charity, BVM and the Order of the Carmelites (O. Carm.), Carmel Catholic High School began in the early sixties as two separate high schools—one for boys and one for girls—and became coeducational in 1988. Today it has over 1,400 students and excels in the area of Catholic identity.

Mary Sattgast, BVM and Kathleen Sinclair, BVM serve at CCHS in school staff positions. BVMs Lois Dolphin, Sheila O’Brien and Teri Hadro serve on the Corporate Member Board of CCHS.

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'Sista' Lynn Winsor, BVM to throw first pitch at Diamondback’s Game

Hey baseball fans!! Sr. Lynn Winsor, BVM, the most winning-est high school girls’ golf coach in US history, will be throwing out the first pitch at Saturday’s Diamondbacks vs. Padres game!!! 

Sr. Lynn was contacted by the D-Back organization due to her coaching success at Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix. In her tenure, Sr. Lynn has racked up 379 wins to 25 losses, 28 state championships and four runner-ups, and holds the state record for 157 consecutive wins.

Among Sr. Lynn’s numerous honors, she has also been named National High School Girls’ Golf Coach of the Year three times, National High School Athletic Director of the Year, and has been installed into the National Athletic Directors Hall of Fame.

While at Xavier, Sr. Lynn has coached four LPGA players–Heather Farr, Grace Park, Kimberly Kim, and Amanda Blumenherst.

Nearly 400 Xavier friends and family will be in the stands to cheer her on as well as the Xavier honor choir who will be singing the national anthem to start the game.

Sr. Lynn Winsor has been the Xavier College Preparatory girls’ golf coach for 37 years and is a member of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who have their Motherhouse at Mount Carmel in Dubuque, Iowa.

 

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BVMs Join in Celebrating International Day of Peace Sept. 21, 2011

For the second consecutive year, the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary will team up with other local institutions and businesses in Dubuque, Iowa, to join the world in celebrating the United Nations International Day of Peace on Sept. 21, 2011.

Multicultural respect, interfaith understanding, and the promotion of human rights and responsibilities comprise this year’s focus, fostered through a series of festival activities.

One of this year’s featured events will be a one-woman performance of “Unveiled,” by Chicago playwright and actress Rohina Malik, telling the stories of five fictional Muslim women who find inner strength when confronted by prejudice and pressure after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Free of charge and open to the public, the show will take place at the Alumni Campus Center Ballroom, Loras College, Dubuque, on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. A short intercollegiate choral concert will precede the performance.  

A series of festival-related events have been planned for September. For more details go to: www.dbqdayofpeace.org.

Click to view the IDP poster:

Click to view the IDP flyer:

For more information contact:

Art Roche: 563.581.6521
Dave Cochran: 563.588.7262
Sr. Nancy Miller, OSF: 563.542.6068

 

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Sisters of Charity, BVM Receive Lumen Award from National Catholic Development Conference

The Sisters of Charity, BVM received a runner up award in the Sixth Annual Lumen Awards presented by the National Catholic Development Conference (NCDC) for the “2010–11 BVM Retirement Appeal,” in the category of “Best Donor Renewal Program Campaign.” 

As the only awards that recognize excellence within the ministry of fundraising, the Lumen Awards were created to enrich the Catholic development community through sharing this excellence.

The Lumen Award, a candlestick, celebrates the visible efforts of those doing God’s work in the world.

 

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Newberry Library Conference Honors Sister Ann Ida Gannon, BVM

The Center for Renaissance Studies at Newberry Library in Chicago presented a conference in honor of Sr. Ann Ida Gannon, BVM (former president of Mundelein College).

The conference, held on Sept. 15–17, 2011, was entitled “Devotion, Discipline, Reform: Sources for the Study of Religion 1450–1640.”

Newberry Library received more than 700 books from Mundelein College twenty years ago, spearheaded by then-Newberry trustee Ann Ida Gannon. Along with Newberry’s significant collection of early modern religious materials, the Mundelein books led to a series of gifts of similar collections, fostered by Ann Ida, from other Chicago area religious institutions.

For more information about the Center for Renaissance Studies call 312-255-3514 or go to: www.newberry.org\renaissance

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Divine Savior Holy Angels High School to Honor Sister Mary McCauley, BVM

Sr. Mary McCauley, BVM (Mercedie) will be honored on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011, as the Jubilarian of the Year at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School in Milwaukee, Wis., with a Mass and brunch beginning at 10:30 a.m.

First presented in 1996, the Jubilarian of the Year award is given to an alumna of DSHA who graduated 50 or more years ago. Awards will also be given to the 2011 Alumna of the Year and the Young Alumna of the Year, presented during the Reunion Weekend festivities held Sept. 30–Oct. 2 at DSHA. The three awards recognize alumnae who best exemplify the school’s mission.

Mary (Holy Angels class of 1956) was nominated for her dedicated life as a BVM; her work in education, administration and healthcare; and her compassionate service in immigration issues and reform.

Holy Angels Academy was established in 1892 by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and affiliated with Divine Savior in 1970. The combined schools have a long, successful history of educating young women, with an alumnae association of over 13,700 women. 

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BVM Chronicles Moments in Lives of Native Americans in Photos

Sr. Patricia Thalhuber, BVM (Herbert Mary) has journeyed with Native Americans as teacher, youth coordinator and pastoral coordinator.

In her retirement, she requested a short term renewal grant from the BVMs for the summer of 2011 to document, through photography, specific moments in the lives of elders of various tribes in Oregon, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Wyoming, she was invited to photograph the dedication of Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain.

Jo Reid Smith, a member of the Medicine Wheel Alliance, shares information about this National Historic Landmark:

"The Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark dedication ceremony was held in the Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming, on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011. (A stick, feather and dreamcatcher held by an honor guard at the ceremony's opening is pictured at left). The Medicine Wheel, located on Medicine Mountain, is an ancient stone artifact of unknown origin where Native Americans have gathered for centuries to hold ceremonies and seek sacred plants. Located at nearly 10,000 feet, the Landmark is accessible from the Forest Service cabin by walking one and a half miles.

"Although the Medicine Wheel (pictured at right) was determined a National Historic Landmark in 1970, the 110 acres did not protect Medicine Mountain where the medicine plants were profuse. In 1988, a group of Native American traditional elders foresaw it as their duty to preserve this place and its history. After 23 years of negotiation, seven groups consisting of Native Americans, county, state and national government agencies finally came to necessary agreement, expanding the NHL to 4,080 acres.

"The United States Forest Service will assure that monitoring of the area will be done by various tribes, as well as the USFS. Native Americans hold their sacred ceremonies at the site."

To view more photos of Pat's work go to:

http://www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_album_detail.cfm?galleryID=85

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Mary Sattgast, BVM Honored at CCHS President’s Dinner

Sr. Mary Sattgast, BVM was honored on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, at a President’s Dinner hosted by Carmel Catholic High School Board of Directors and President Judith Mucheck, Ph.D., in recognition of the school’s 50th anniversary. Mary has served Carmel for 49 years as an educator and is currently registrar. The event was held at the Sanfilippo estate in Barrington, Ill.

Francis Cardinal George was in attendance as CCHS honored Mary, along with Dick and Janet Jacob, supporters of Carmel for the past 39 years through Street Scenes—Carmel’s most important fundraiser and community-builder.

CCHS invited the entire Carmel family to this event. All proceeds went to support Carmel’s tuition assistance programs, helping to make CCHS more accessible to a greater number of students throughout Lake, Cook, McHenry and Kenosha counties.

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BVM ‘Knitwits’ Warm Heads and Hearts This Winter

On Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, Amy Schauer, Director of the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP) in Dubuque, met with the BVM “Knitwits” at Mount Carmel to receive their donation of 400 hand-knit hats. Accompanying Amy were Michelle Coates, Ennoble Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and Jane Ulstead, Discovery Shop, Dubuque. Both Michelle and Jane are on the RSVP advisory council.

Michelle presented activities staff member Annie Birch with a Certificate of Appreciation for the group. Annie coordinates the Knitwits and is assisted by Katy Powers, who joined the activities staff in June.

“I arrived at Mount Carmel with two of my advisory council members to pick up knitted hats for the RSVP 2011 “Lots of Socks, Hats, and Mittens Too” campaign. What I left with was so much more than hats,” says Amy. “The women who knitted these hats intended to warm the heads of school children this winter, but what they did in turn was warm my heart. RSVP, the advisory council, the schools and I are so grateful for the work of the sisters at Mount Carmel. I left that day with a warm heart, 400 knitted hats, and memories of these women that will put a smile on my face all winter long! RSVP truly appreciates the partnership we have with Mount Carmel and hopes this partnership may continue long into the future. Words seem feeble in comparison to the work you do, so I will simply say thank you.”

The guests marveled at the array of knit hat colors and designs, even trying on a few for photographs with the sisters who created them. From tiny infants’ hats in soft pastels to large, multi-patterned adult ones, no two hats were the same. Each one was painstakingly crafted by a sister intent on doing her part to help others keep warm this winter.

Annie has recorded the history of the Knitwits, complete with photos of all the sisters who have been or are now part of the group. In 2006, Sister Isidora Lorentz received a large box of looms and yarn as a Christmas gift, which she donated to the activities department. Activities Supervisor Julie Wessels, who knew how to “rake-knit,” taught Annie how to make a hat. Annie, in turn, began to show others, and in February 2007, the first “class” of the Knitwits was held. The sisters have also contributed their expertise to other donation projects like quilt-making, afghans, dolls, stuffed toys and baby bassinet kits.

Current members of the busy group are: Jean Margaret Black, Paul Francis Bailey, Lydia Buntemeyer, Noella Cavallero, Catherine Dominick, Patricia Donahue, Helen Emerson, Gabrielle Haggerty, Madalyn Hogan, Suzy Judge, Mary Lou Larkin, Faith Lautz, Virginia McCaffrey, Therese Miller, Teresita Poulin, Nan Ross, Ernest Rothe, Gracia Schmidt, Joanne Schneider, Paulina Sullivan, Therese Waughon, and Elaine Wojcik.

The Knitwits meet on Mondays and Wednesdays in Loyola Hall. A friendly competition exists between the “North” and “South” Knitwits groups, who live at opposite ends of the Mount Carmel Campus. But their goal is the same: to reach out and touch lives and hearts in a special way, helping others to keep warm in winter with a soft knit hat—created with love.   

 

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Dubuque Area Sisters Hold Discernment Weekend at Mount Carmel

"Dubuque's Got Sisters" welcomed a small group of women interested in religious life to Mount Carmel in Dubuque, Iowa,  for a Discernment Weekend Nov. 11 and 12, 2011.  

The retreat was sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubuque Franciscan Sisters and Sinsinawa (Wis.) Dominican Sisters. These sisters collaborate on many other events throughout the year.

The weekend provided information on discernment and religious life and offered an environment of quiet and prayer for the participants.

Initial Membership Coordinator Lou Anglin, BVM, said, "It's important for people who are thinking about religious life to know that they are not alone. DGS offers an opportunity for support and to learn about discernment and religious life in an atmosphere of prayer and reflection."

The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary are women of steadfast love called to live the mission of Jesus through the core values of freedom, charity, education and justice. For 176 years, BVMs have ministered to those in need in numerous parts of the world. Currently, BVMs minister in 23 U.S. states, and in Ecuador, Guatamala and Ghana. Ministries include education, pastoral work, spiritual development, health care, justice advocacy and business services. Tour our website to find out more about us, and how to join us in this amazing vocation.

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‘Carmelville’—A Labor of Love

Christmas has arrived early on the third floor of Marian Hall, where Alice Dunphy’s village, “Carmelville,” is sure to put the spirit of the season into everyone’s heart.

“Carmelville” comprises 96 sq. ft. of “life on earth awaiting the Savior’s birth.” This year’s display is even larger than when the village made its Mount Carmel debut last year—and features not one, but two trains, chugging around a mountain and through the village; a “Sisters of Charity Drive” that leads to a school and church; cafes, stores and much more! People and animals in the village carry on their daily routines as Carmelville prepares for this blessed season.

“Our Savior comes to us in this small village,” says Alice, who began creating Christmas villages in a “very small way” in the mid-1970s in Missoula, Mont., to “keep occupied in cold snow country.” From there, as Alice moved to Palm Springs, Calif., the village transformed from a winter scene to a resort village complete with palm trees and sand. “I kept changing the look and adding new ideas,” Alice says. Over three decades, from Missoula to Tucson to Las Vegas and finally, Mount Carmel, Alice’s village continues to evolve. She waits until after Christmas, when items go on sale, to purchase new additions for the village.

Planning, layouts, gathering materials and setting up the village involved much help from Mount Carmel staff and other sisters. Alice is grateful for the assistance, saying, “It takes a village to make a village!”

“We have a big open house for a week with fun, laughter, music and joy,” says Alice. But what is most important about Carmelville to Alice is its effect on the sisters who aren’t able to leave Mount Carmel to enjoy the seasonal displays.

In the evenings, when the twinkling lights are lit in Alice’s magical village, she brings the sisters from the memory care unit to enjoy the display. “To paraphrase the Bible,” says Alice, “Whatever you do to others to make them happy and put joy and love in their hearts, you do unto Me.”

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BVM Reflections Available for Lent

REFLECTIONS FOR LENT AVAILABLE: Stations of the Cross offers written reflections by BVM sisters that foster personal spiritual encounters with the passion of Christ.  Each reflection is accompanied by striking mosaic artwork that adorned the chapel walls at Wright Hall, a BVM retirement home in Chicago that closed in 2011. In tribute to BVM life at Wright Hall, Stations of the Cross was published as a keepsake of a treasured time and place, and as a resource for reflection during the season of Lent. Consider purchasing this booklet for personal lent reflection, prayer groups or a gift for family or friends. Cost $5 each. Email: Office of Communcaitons at communications@bvmcong.org or complete this online form: http://bit.ly/wZI8DE.

Quantities are limited so purchase this Lenten resource today!

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BVMs Elect New Leadership Team

At their recent Senate of Elections in Dubuque the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary chose a new leadership team to begin a 4-year term August 1, 2012. 

President Teri Hadro, BVM is currently a vice president of the congregation since 2008. She entered the BVMs from St. Paul, Minn., in 1965.  She has a master of science degree in zoology/genetic counseling from Rutgers University, and was a genetic counselor from 1979-2000 at hospitals in Springfield and Chicago, Ill. From 2000-2006 she served as regional representative of the congregation’s Great Lakes Region.  Prior to joining the leadership team, Teri was a genetic counselor at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

First Vice President is Mira Mosle, BVM a position she has held since 2008. Previously she was director of communications for the BVMs from 1993-2008. A Dubuque native and graduate of Wahlert High School and Clarke University, she holds a master’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of Minnesota.  She serves on the Clarke University Board of Trustees, is a founding member of Sisters United News (SUN) of the Upper Mississippi Valley, and served as director of communications for the diocese of Des Moines from 1979-1990.

Second Vice President Kate Hendel, BVM has been at Clarke University since 1981 where she has been a faculty member, campus liturgist, music department chair, director of general education, and is currently the dean of adult and graduate studies. She is a member/secretary of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra Board and serves on the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges. She holds a Ph.D. in music education from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La. A native of St. Louis, Mo., she entered the BVM community in 1963 from Scottsdale, Ariz.

The installation ceremony of the new leadership team will be held July 22 in the Motherhouse Chapel in Dubuque. 

View photos at: http://www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_album.cfm 

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BVM President to Speak at Clarke University Commencement

Mary Ann Zollmann, BVM, Ph.D., president of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), will address the graduates at the 169th Commencement at Clarke University, May 12, 2012.

“Mary Ann is a remarkable example of a woman who brings to life the very values and purpose that define a Clarke education,” says Clarke President Joanne M. Burrows, SC, Ph.D. “We look forward to the great wisdom she will share with our graduates.”

The commencement ceremony begins at 2 p.m. Students will receive their diplomas and special awards will be bestowed. Mary Ann will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters.

Mary Ann has served in BVM congregational leadership for the past 12 years and is also on the Board of Trustees at Clarke and Loyola Universities. A longtime Clarke faculty member who taught religious studies from 1981–2000, Mary Ann completes her term as congregational president this year. She has also been coordinator of BVM initial membership, served as a campus minister, and a teacher in California and Missouri. She holds a Ph.D. in spirituality and master’s degrees in French, religious studies and spirituality.

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Celebrating a Lifelong Relationship: The BVMs and the Archdiocese of Dubuque

Mary Ann Zollmann, BVM- President
Mount Carmel, December 5, 2011

On Sunday, November 20, during a special celebratory liturgy at the Cathedral, Archbishop Jerome Hanus proclaimed a year of jubilee:  

The Archdiocese of Dubuque was established July 28, 1837.  I announce to you a year of celebration of 175 years of God’s favor….Our observance is an opportunity to recall in gratitude the heritage of faith given us by our ancestors who built churches and established parishes, schools, hospitals, and charitable organizations.

Following the reading of the proclamation each of us representing parishes, institutions, and religious communities received a copy.  As the scroll passed into my hands, I felt as though I were holding the whole of our BVM community and history.  And, indeed, the story of the Archdiocese of Dubuque and the story of our BVM Community have been intertwined for 169 of this Archdiocese’s 175 years.

In 1843, when the relationship between the Archdiocese and the BVMs began, we were a young community just ten years old and Dubuque was a young Archdiocese six years of age; siblings of an uncommon sort, we grew up together.  It has made a difference to us BVMs that we came of age in this Iowa pioneer territory; and, we like to think it has made a difference that the Archdiocese grew up in companionship with us. Three images from our pioneer beginnings point to the significance of our life-long bond: a boat, a log house, and a piano.

On June 5, 1843, Bishop Mathias Loras, Margaret Mann, Eliza Kelly, Joseph O’Reilly, Francis O’Reilly, and Patrice Caniff boarded a boat for the journey from Philadelphia to Dubuque.  It was a rocky start, not so much due to any rough Mississippi waters, but because the Bishop would have preferred the Sisters of Charity of Emmitsburg; and, to make things even more unsettling, we were not canonically approved.  Yet we were in the boat together bound by a common mission to serve the people of the new frontier diocese.  As testament to what a three-week river journey can do, by the time the boat docked in Dubuque Bishop Loras was ringing the bell he had brought with him, letting the Angelus sing out our welcome as the first community of women religious in the Iowa Territory.

In the person of Bishop Loras and Mary Frances Clarke, a strong Church figure met a strong woman of the Church.  Mary Frances resisted any form of patronization by the Church.  When, upon their arrival, Loras gave the women his own home, they moved out from under his roof to their own unfinished home after three short weeks; when the Bishop offered them money for their financial stability, Mary Frances refused insisting the fledgling community support itself. When Loras wanted to divide St. Mary’s Academy into the “select” and the “poor,” Mary Frances informed him that she was closing the school.  Loras and Mary Frances Clarke negotiated; the school continued without the class distinctions as together they made the necessary adaptations to serve the mission of the Church in Dubuque.

This spirit of tenacity and elasticity characteristic of Bishop Loras and Mary Frances Clarke endures in the relationship between the BVMs and the Church of Dubuque today.  Being in the boat together has been and is good for us and for our Church.

The BVMs first home on the frontier was that of a log house, a space way too small to contain them comfortably.  From the beginning they were a community whose boundless affection overflowed confinement in any single home.  The uniqueness of their spirit was noted by Bishop Loras almost immediately.  Just a little over a week after their arrival, he wrote to Terence Donaghoe inviting him to come and bring with him the 14 sisters remaining in Philadelphia.  Loras wrote:

          Our sisters are very much pleased and are in perfect health, they sigh after nothing else but the arrival of the principal colony….I expected to receive some borders, but I shall not do it in order to leave all of the space for the balance of the family.

Shortly thereafter, Joseph Cretin, Vicar of the Archdiocese, wrote a letter to Bishop Loras carrying a similar expression of appreciation:

The Sisters are happy.  It proves how good they are, and it is this goodness that I admire in them and that can do very much to make their establishment effective for the good of the diocese.  I have confidence that this house will one day be your greatest consolation.

To Bishop Loras the spirit of this community must have been made visible in Mary Frances’ care that the sisters not go to new missions unprepared but rather accompanied by their more experienced community mentors; and in the steady peace of the sisters to go on calmly amidst public rumors that could have divided them.  When Loras first came to the Iowa Territory, he was, with his European sensibilities, immediately affected by the violence and squalor of the frontier; he felt like a poor exile at the end of the earth and doubted whether the diocese would survive the winter.  In the heart of such a desolate landscape the genuine warmth emanating from a log house helped make the whole Iowa Territory a home, not just for Bishop Loras but for a frontier people yearning for the human touch of authentic affection.

In the years since then our little log house has taken on the form of a Prairie home and this Mount Carmel home on the Mississippi bluff; almost 5000 women have become part of what Loras first identified as family, most of us getting our start here in Dubuque, and most of us finding our way back here in our later years. Our Motherhouse, our family home, is here; the affection of this Archdiocese helps to make it so.

At the request of Bishop Loras, there it was—a piano traveling the Mississippi from Philadelphia with Terence Donaghoe and the remaining BVMs.  Ostensibly superfluous to the radical material needs of the frontier and out of place in its rugged landscape, it was lyrical, artistic, poetic, promising liberating music and song wherever the wind’s breath might carry it. The piano was a harbinger of the freedom these pioneer women were bringing to Iowa as they joyfully anticipated their loving service among the people. 

However they soon discovered how problematic it would be to find a way to use their gifts to the advantage of the area.  Possibilities for a school in Galena and ministry with the Native Americans did not materialize; a school in Potosi was short-lived when Wisconsin became a separate diocese.  As they met with one obstacle after another, Mary Frances wrote to Loras stating her guiding conviction:  all that mattered was the will of God for the future of her dear community, even if it meant that the community be dissolved.  Such interior freedom must have resonated in Loras’ own spirit because he kept finding ways to help the sisters succeed: absenting himself from the diocese when tensions between the Irish and French parishioners at St. Raphael’s escalated; and going with Donaghoe to seek a location outside of the immediate environs of Dubuque for the new Motherhouse.  Perhaps, most significant of all, is that, on August 15, 1845, thanks to the spiritual support of Bishop Loras, this first band of sisters made their vows and were accordingly officially approved.  They had found a ministerial home.

In the years since then, the freeing spirit alive in us BVMs and sustained by Bishop Loras has been released into the Archdiocese through our ministry as teachers in schools, parish religious education programs, and classes for lay ministers; as school principals, superintendents, and university presidents; as parish administrators, home visitors, liturgists and music ministers; as staff in the Archdiocesan Office.  And, from its original launching place in Dubuque the spirit of the piano has been unleashed into the world.

The proclamation for this anniversary year concludes:       

May this year of celebration help us rededicate ourselves to continue building upon the legacy we have received so it can be celebrated and embraced by future generations.

Moving together into that future, we BVMs and the Archdiocese of Dubuque have all that we need:  a boat, a log house, and a piano. 

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SALT Magazine

Check out the latest edition of SALT: Cosmic Spirituality: The Evolutionary Unfolding of Earth. This issue reflects on a growing awareness of the universe and our place within it. Join us on this journey of spirituality. Click Here

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Dubuque's Got Sisters

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BVM Senate of Elections

The 29th BVM Leadership Elections begin today during a Mass of the Holy Spirit at the Mount Carmel Motherhouse led by Archbishop Jerome Hanus. Please join us in prayer as 7 BVMs go through this unfolding event that will result in their wisdom carrying forward the congregation for the next 4 years. Be sure to visit in the days ahead for updates and photos.
 
Senate of Elections Prayer - Come, Holy Spirit:
 Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. Wisdom 7:7
 Spirit of wisdom, you speak to us in ways that often surprise us. You uncover truths that we had kept hidden from ourselves and support us in tasks we fear to undertake alone. We pray for wisdom in our preparations for our elections.
 As we strive to call from among us leaders who are committed to inclusivity in decision-making,
 As we seek to identify women committed to social justice,
 As we strive to call from among us leaders of deep spirituality,
 As we strive to identify BVMs who understand, encourage and appreciate diversity among us,
 As we seek to identify leaders who are able to inspire unity in our diversity,
 As we strive to call from among us women who are sensitive to the needs of all members,
 Come, wisdom, reflection of eternal light.

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BVMs Join Catholic Sisters in Launching 'Welcoming Communities' for Immigration Reform

In response to the affirmation of the comprehensive immigration reform at the 2010 BVM Senate, BVM leadership has joined with 10 communities of Catholic sisters based in the Upper Mississippi River Valley who are calling on President Obama and Congress to work together to enact comprehensive immigration reform and are launching a media campaign to make sure delegates, potential candidates and voters remember this critical issue.

To make their point, the sisters have issued a statement on “Welcoming Communities;” are placing billboards in the Quad Cities, Des Moines, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City and Clinton, Iowa, this month in advance of the Iowa caucuses; and have held prayer services at the billboard sites and their convents on Monday, Dec. 12.

The Sinsinawa Dominicans, Sisters of Charity BVM, Sisters of the Presentation, Sisters of St. Francis and Sisters of the Visitation in the tri-state area invited the public to a brief prayer service at 12 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, at one of the billboard sites on the corner of 8th and White streets in Dubuque, Iowa, to celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and to share their statement recognizing that they are “Welcoming Communities.” About 100 sisters and supporters joined in the Monday noon prayer service. To view the video and read more about these events, visit: http://www.facebook.com/bvmsisters

In addition, the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters invited the public to a prayer service at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, in the Gathering Place at Sinsinawa Mound, Sinsinawa, Wis., to celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and to recognize the “Welcoming Communities” statement released by Catholic Sisters in the Upper Mississippi River Valley.

The billboards with the message: “I was a stranger  an immigrant and you welcomed me” (above) were posted on Dec. 12 and will remain up through early January. The message, based on the words of Jesus, is taken from the Gospel of Matthew.

“We declare ourselves ‘Welcoming Communities’ in affirmation of our Catholic tradition that holds sacred the dignity of each person,” the sisters said in the official statement, “and we invite other communities and people of faith to join us in becoming ‘Immigrant Welcoming Communities’ through prayer, reflection, education and action.”

“Our ‘Welcoming Communities’ stance is a direct response to the government’s ‘Secure Communities’ program which has transformed local police officers into a primary gateway for deportation,” explained the sisters.  “The results have been hundreds of thousands of detentions and deportations, serious civil and human rights concerns, due process violations and damaged trust between immigrant communities and local police.”

They further noted that “the "Secure Communities" process was marketed to local law enforcement agencies as a way to deal with serious and dangerous criminals. "In fact, low-priority, nonviolent offenders or even lawful permanent residents are being funneled into this program which is breaking up families, promoting racial profiling, and fueling a fear-filled and hateful anti-immigrant atmosphere."

National immigration reform organizations assert that the "Secure Communities" program has actually made communities less safe because many individuals are afraid to report crimes that they experience or witness for fear of being deported or having neighbors, family members or friends deported. As a result, they state, crimes are going unreported and communities, rather than becoming “secure,” are living in fear.

“Failure on the part of the federal government to reform the present unworkable immigration system has resulted in states passing legislation that is punitive and harmful to human rights,” noted the sisters.

“We understand that enforcement of law is part of any immigration policy,” the sisters emphasized.  “However, the present policy of involving state and local law enforcement agencies in the enforcement of federal immigration law, such as in the 'Secure Communities' program, is not achieving that goal. True security lies in building relationships and respecting human rights and only true, comprehensive, compassionate immigration reform can deal with the crisis in our nation. Therefore, we are declaring ourselves Immigrant Welcoming Communities.”

“Welcoming Communities” is a project of the following religious sister congregations:

Dominican Sisters, Sinsinawa, Wis.
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubuque, Iowa
Sisters of the Humility of Mary, Davenport, Iowa
Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque, Iowa
Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa
Sisters of St. Francis, Dubuque, Iowa
Sisters of St. Benedict, Rock Island, Ill.
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, La Crosse, Wis.,
Sisters of the Visitation, Dubuque, Iowa
Sisters of Mercy, West-Midwest Region, Omaha, Neb.

Read the entire statement.

For more information and additional prayer services, visit: www.facebook.com/catholicsisters

 

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Join Us for a Weekend Service Experience in Milwaukee!

The Sisters of Charity, BVM invite you to join them, along with associates, friends and college students, for a weekend service experience in Milwaukee, Wis., April 27–29, 2012.

The experience will focus on meeting and working with immigrants to the U.S. and learning more about the challenges they face. Volunteers will connect with outreach workers at Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights group based in Milwaukee.

This annual “in country” volunteer experience is sponsored by the BVM Initial Membership and Associate offices.

Click here to view details.

Registration Deadline: April 2, 2012

 To register or for more information, contact:

Kathy Carr, BVM

kcarr@bvmcong.org

563.588.2351 ext. 5133

 

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Dubuque Area Vocation Association Sponsors Presentations for Catholic Youth

The Dubuque Area Vocation Association (DAVA) is sponsoring three presentations of “Let’s Get on Fire” as part of National Vocation Awareness Week, Jan. 9–14, 2012. Students in grades 6–12 and their families are invited to hear ValLimar Jansen as she presents this message through the power of music and gospel stories.

DAVA hopes to help young people recognize the importance of “being on fire” about their Catholic faith as they consider vocation choices and the future direction of their lives.

Jansen is a nationally recognized presenter, singer, cantor and recording artist. A college professor, she is also a leader of worship and prayer and a workshop presenter at both the national and international level. She has recently emceed the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, Ind.

To read more about "Let's Get on Fire" click here.

 Presentations times:

Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, 6:45 p.m.
Kehl Center, Clarke University, Dubuque

Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, 9:30 a.m.
Wahlert High School, Dubuque

Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, 1 p.m.
Mazzuchelli Catholic Middle School

 Contact Sr. Rita Cameron, PBVM for more information:
563.588.2008
vocations@dubuquepresentations.org

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‘Dubuque’s Got Sisters’ Offers Spring 24-Hour Tour

Join ‘Dubuque’s Got Sisters’ for an inside look at religious life March 30–31, 2012. This event is sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubuque Franciscan Sisters and the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, Wis.

The 24-hour tour features a visit to four area Motherhouses to share life through praying, dining and storytelling. Local transportation is provided and there is no fee to attend.

The weekend begins at 5 p.m., Friday, March 30, and ends at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 31. The evening will begin with prayer and overnight hospitality on Friday at Mount Loretto in Dubuque with the Sisters of the Presentation. On Saturday, the group will visit the Sisters of Charity, BVM, the Dubuque Franciscans and the Sinsinawa Dominicans.

"Come join us for Dubuque's Got Sisters to pray with us, eat with us, talk with us," said Sister Jeri Cashman, OP, who will accompany the tour group. "You will witness the faithful living of vows, the beauty of our community and ministry, and the graced life of our interconnectedness!"

Catholic sisters in your community invite you to learn more about their work by visiting their website at www.facebook.com/catholicsisters.

Click here to view the DGS flyer.

To register or for more details contact:

Sr. Rita Cameron, PBVM
Vocations @dubuquepresentations.org
563-588-2008

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BVM Reports on National Farm Worker Ministry

“Did you eat today? Thank a farmworker!” has greater meaning for me following the National Farm Worker Ministry Board meeting Jan. 27–28 in Yuma, Ariz., winter lettuce capital of the United States.

Around 5 a.m. our group drove some 45 minutes to the U.S. side of the border crossing, where hundreds of Mexican nationals were waiting at pick-up points for buses to take them to the fields for a day of labor.

Walking among them for a half hour or so, we board members were able to converse with them and gain some insight into their daily experience harvesting the food for our tables.

Depending on how close to the border a worker lives, she or he may have awakened at 3 a.m. or earlier to get to the crossing point. There is a wait of 2–3 hours in order to be checked through to the U.S. side. Fast food restaurants and street vendors are all open for breakfast, and drivers of the buses belonging to various growers are pumping gas. It can take another hour or so to drive to the specific worksite for which the worker’s H-2A visa provides seasonal employment at $9.94 per hour. Add 8 hours of work plus lunch, break times and supper, and then reverse the timeline until the worker is back at home in a Mexican town or village. Workers are exhausted by both the work and by long hours of waiting. Their whole routine occurs daily.

The workers know who the “good employers” are. All too often though, employers and unscrupulous job recruiters abuse the visa system, extorting fees and exploiting vulnerable workers. It was a “good employer,” owner of Rodriguez Growers Company, who later that morning brought our NFWM group to two of his extensive fields. In the first, romaine lettuce was being picked and trimmed to the romaine hearts, which were packaged and sealed, tagged, packed in produce cartons, loaded on trucks, and destined for U.S. supermarkets within three days.

Reflecting on our collective experience brought forth comments like, “It’s a parallel universe of thousands of people, hundreds of buses and massive border crossings.” “This is assembly line work outdoors, with machines that never stop.” “It’s industrial control; each team of workers is organized, but work is based on the machine.” “From the worker’s perspective, it is work with dignity, conferring status in the home community.”

For H-2A agricultural workers, contracts and labor standards are in place. Nevertheless, it’s food safety that is primary, over and above any other consideration. So the National Farm Worker Ministry carries on its role of advocacy and accompaniment, especially where standards of worker fairness and safety are violated. NFWM supports small-step achievements. These can become beneficial opportunities for a limited number of individuals from poor communities where families can’t eat regularly. We consumers are beneficiaries as well of farmworker labor.

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BVM Sister and Donor’s Gift Improves Lives in Ghana

Thanks to a generous donor, micro-loans were given to several women in Ghana, Africa. Laurene Brady, BVM, who administers the micro-loans, says Thank You to this donor in the following letter:

As Christmas 2011 passes and 2012 becomes a reality, I become more acutely aware of the many blessings we BVM sisters have received. Your gift to be used for micro-lending here in Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa, has indeed been a blessing for Kumasi women. Since arriving in Ghana, I have been involved in the educational endeavors. One phase of this is adult education. Statistics show that 40% of adult women in the Ashanti region cannot read or write. I decided to teach them!

Along with basic reading and writing classes, I have been able to give new hope to women by offering them a micro-loan. Your donation gave new hope to Evelyn, Julie and Mary, plus several other women. The loans were truly micro and each has her own story and uses the money differently.

Evelyn travels on a bus overnight to purchase yams and charcoal at a low price so she can sell quality merchandise at a lower price. Thus, she keeps her children in school by using the profits for tuition. Your loan has enabled her to purchase in a greater quantity and thus make fewer trips.

Juliana sews and sews. Her works speak of creativity, accuracy and just plain beauty! You name what you want or show her a drawing of it, and Julie will produce a masterpiece. Julie and her husband, Stephen, are the proud parents of four children.

Mary is the proprietor of a small store which sells candy, phone cards, bottled water, etc. Within the store there is a copy machine, always in need of repair. Now Mary has the resources to pay for repairs quickly, purchase paper at greater quantities, and keep customers happy and coming back again and again.

These are the stories of three women. You donation had also helped several other women. The women pay their loans in small amounts but I am happy to say, all pay something monthly.

On behalf of all the folks whose lives you have become a part of, I say THANK YOU.

Laurene Brady, BVM

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BVM Participates in Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations

Thanks to the BVM congregation’s joining in partnership with the Loretto Community Non-Governmental Organization, I had the privilege of attending the fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations in New York. What an inspiring and enriching experience it was, beginning with the Feb. 26 CSW Forum Consultation Day which preceded the two-week event. Over 1,100 women and girls, men and boys representing NGOs, government and UN delegates participated in the daylong “civil society discourse.” They came from countries on every continent, from large urban areas and from remote rural villages, many wearing the traditional garb of their various regions and cultures.

At Loretto’s New York office, Sally Dunne, co-member and UN NGO representative of Loretto Community, along with Emily Thenhaus, intern and assistant UN NGO representative, had planned and facilitated the involvement of the Loretto Delegation. Our group included 24 high school students and their chaperones from St Louis, Kansas City and Denver. Each day presented a smorgasbord from which to choose as many as five 90-minute NGO-sponsored parallel events from among some 290 such events. Each was connected to the theme, “The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.”

Most of the parallel events took place in various meeting rooms at the Church Center of the United Nations, across the street from the main UN buildings, and a 15 minute walk from the Holiday Inn where our delegation stayed. Women, especially those from the southern hemisphere, spoke from personal experience and from the heart—often describing painful and oppressive situations prevalent in their respective countries and cultures. Over and above all they expressed gratitude for the opportunity to share their stories in a safe place.

Among the events I attended during my five days in New York: “Food Security in the Midst of Global Change: Empowering Rural Women Through Resource Efficiency;” “Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership;” “Economic Justice: A Prerequisite for Women’s Access to and Control over Resources;” “Ending the Silence: The Impact of Early and Forced Marriage on Rural Girls;” “Rural Women’s Concerns: What Do Gender, Race and Class Have to Do with It?” “Reconciliation through Empowerment of Rural Women;” “Women, Media, Revolution: Amplifying Voices of Women Living on and Reporting from the Frontlines;” “Follow That Money! Specific and Targeted Budgets for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women;” “Why Must Women Leave Home?” and “Promoting Islamic Models that Help Women Fight Poverty and Hunger.”

Several “Youth Only” sessions provided the young people in attendance with peer connections and a “Girl-Boy Dialogue,” along with the opportunity to craft a “Girls’ Statement” and a “Boys’ Statement.” The Loretto-sponsored “Bringing it Home” session was a sharing of the impact of CSW for the student participants. They considered how to convey the experience to their classmates, friends and families back home. Many agreed that CSW was a transformational experience. How wonderful if next year students from Carmel, Xavier, Holy Family and Clarke could be part of the Loretto delegation.

Whether a specific event was a panel, a process, questions and answers, or a lunch-time conversation with a woman I encountered, what I carry with me and want to share was the bonding among women from around the globe, united by a single purpose. “Women’s (and girls’) rights are human rights” was a frequent refrain. I hope to repeat the experience next year, perhaps with other BVMs and associates, when the CSW theme will be “Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.”

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Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees Celebrated July 31, 2011, at Mount Carmel

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Children at St. Mark’s Community Center Receive ‘Lap Desks’ from the BVMs

 

 

If the Sisters of Charity, BVM, can find a way to relate a project to education, they will surely do it—proving that one can take a BVM out of the classroom, but one can’t take the classroom out of a BVM!

 

This Christmas, instead of decorating a tree for the Festival of Trees in Dubuque, Iowa, the BVM sisters planned a special project for the children at St. Mark’s Community Center in Dubuque. What could they make that would combine fun, relaxation and (of course) learning and creativity? Lap desks!

On Dec. 14, 2011, Mount Carmel Activities Director Julie Wessels and her staff delivered 280 lap desks to St. Mark’s Community Center, carefully constructed and covered with cheerful patterns sure to appeal to kids who like sports, animals, toys or simply bright, festive colors.

Taking well over a month to complete, the project was a collaboration between the sisters and some of the Mount Carmel staff—a well-orchestrated assembly line of Santa helpers coordinated by Julie.

The sisters met nearly every day of the week to measure and cut the material. Some stapled cardboard “shaping” to the cut pieces and housekeeping staff member Judy Mootz sewed the cut pieces together to form rectangular pillow shapes. Next on the agenda came the stuffing of the pillows with “packing peanuts.”

As these tasks were completed, Maintenance Manager Andy Thomas and longtime maintenance staff member Dennis Young stepped in to work on the “desk top” part of the project—cutting smooth hardboard panels into rectangular desk tops designed to be attached to the sewn, stuffed pillows.

The lap desk project was finally completed at the “construction party,” where many of the sisters came together to do the final assembly work: gluing the desk tops to the pillows, “pressing” them together until the cement glue hardened, and packing up the finished lap desk gifts for delivery before Christmas!

“I was amazed by the number of sisters who came to help stuff and glue the desks,” says Julie. “Our delivery van was filled to the roof with 28 large boxes full of lap desks!”

St. Mark’s Moving Up Coordinator Tina Schulte says, “The children were very excited, and as you can see from the pictures, they came up with some creative alternative uses. Thank you—this was an incredible gift and the children were very grateful!”

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Impact Award Presented to BVMs, Other Catholic Sisters of the Upper Mississippi River Valley

The Sisters of Charity, BVM were one of 10 communities of Catholic sisters in the Upper Mississippi River Valley who received the 365 Impact Award for 2012 in the category of Inclusion, sponsored by local media agency Dubuque 365.com.

The Inclusion award honors the sisters for their media campaign urging comprehensive immigration reform and inviting communities across the state of Iowa and Upper Mississippi River Valley to be “Welcoming Communities.”  

The 365 Impact Award is given to those who “choose to make an everyday effort to ‘impact’ the world around them 365 days a year—for those who believe in [their] community and are willing to do something to make it better for everyone,” states the sponsor of the award.

BVM Mira Mosle represents the Sisters of Charity leadership in this action, which included issuing a joint statement by the congregations, and promotion with billboards, news releases, prayer services and events. BVM Communications Director Angie Connolly, as a member of Sisters United News (SUN) communicators, assisted in the promotion of this event, as well as a local Dubuque citizen group, “Crossing Borders,” whose members include BVMs Mary McCauley, Judy Callahan and Mary Martens.

“Welcoming Communities” is a project of the following religious sister congregations:

Dominican Sisters, Sinsinawa, Wis.
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubuque, Iowa
Sisters of the Humility of Mary, Davenport, Iowa
Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque, Iowa
Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa
Sisters of St. Francis, Dubuque, Iowa
Sisters of St. Benedict, Rock Island, Ill.
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, La Crosse, Wis.,
Sisters of the Visitation, Dubuque, Iowa
Sisters of Mercy, West-Midwest Region, Omaha, Neb.

 

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Women and Spirit Exhibit Garners Design Award

Catholic Sisters of the Upper Mississippi River Valley and McCullough Creative of Dubuque received a Gold Addy and Final Fifteen award for the design of the Women and Spirit local exhibit at the Dubuque Mississippi River Museum last winter, in the category of Advertising for the Arts and Sciences/Arts, out-of-home.

Mira Mosle, BVM, committee chair of the local exhibit, worked closely with McCullough, who submitted the entry to the annual awards sponsored by the American Advertising Federation of Dubuque. Other active participants included BVM Communications Director Angie Connolly, member of Sisters United News (SUN), and Deanna Carr, BVM (Bernita) on the content committee, who made many contributions of research and materials from the Mount Carmel Archives.

 

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