A group of 18 Latin American religious sisters visited the Catholic Extension Society office in Chicago this month to express their gratitude for our U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program.
Through this program, the sisters are all currently pursuing higher education degrees at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
They are studying human services, pastoral care and leadership to improve their ministries. This new group is following in the footsteps of the 44 sisters who earned their degrees from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota through our program just this past May.
The sisters are serving among Hispanic communities in the poorest regions of America, including rural areas in Texas, California, Maine and more. They will apply what they learn in their ongoing studies to their ministries, establishing new services and performing outreach initiatives to develop the human potential of tens of thousands of disadvantaged people.
The gathering was the first time that most of the sisters in the program met each other in person. The program also helps Latin American women religious in the United States forge long-lasting, supportive relationships among sisters from different congregations and backgrounds.
Sharing their experiences
Many sisters—including Sister Rosa María Díaz Arriaga, below, a member of the Carmelites of the Sacred Heart serving in southern California—spoke of the beauties, challenges and surprising aspects of their ministries.
They shared that strangers, many of whom are not Catholic, will often walk up to them and ask to pray with them and ask for blessings.
One sister shared that she is always astonished to hear the incredible stories behind the people who approach her. And although so many have endured great hardship, they are still standing, and they still have faith.
Catholic Extension Society shares a special connection with one of the congregations. Early in our history, when the Church was suffering great persecution in Mexico, our founder, Father Francis Clement Kelley, took action to help sisters and priests who were coming to the United States to escape the violence.
In 1915 he founded San Felipe de Neri Seminary in Castroville, Texas, to allow Mexican seminarians to continue their studies. More than 100 future priests were educated here.
One of these priests, Father Juan Nepomuceno Guzmán Hernández, went on to found the Catechist Sisters of Crucified Jesus in Mexico. We were thrilled to welcome four of the sisters from the congregation and celebrate this full-circle moment.
We believe that their work today among disadvantaged communities in rural Northern California is planting seeds that will bear fruit for many years to come.
Taking in the city
After the gathering at the Catholic Extension Society office, the sisters enjoyed some time in downtown Chicago. Of course, they visited one of the city’s top attractions: The “Bean.”
Sister Andrea Falconer is a member of the Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, and she is serving among Hispanic families in Paris, Texas. She shared her gratitude for Catholic Extension Society’s supporters. By investing in her education, our donors are not just enhancing her current ministry. They are recognizing her talents and empowering her for the rest of her life.
We are grateful to the sisters for bringing their warmth and joy to our Chicago office. We wish them well in their ongoing studies and look forward to seeing all of the wonderful things they will accomplish!
