Sister María Teresa “Tere” de Loera López said she felt “chosen” when she found out a decade ago she was going to the United States to participate in Catholic Extension Society’s U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program.
The program is designed to help Latin American sisters gain leadership and ministry skills while in the United States that they can apply in their future work in the Global South.
Sister Tere is a proud graduate of our program and holds a master’s degree from Boston College.
She returned to Mexico in 2020. A member of the Catholic Teachers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus religious community, she took on the leadership of a massive religious education program in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Now she serves 60 parishes and leads a staff of 12.
Part of her job entails driving out to distant parishes to train catechists.
The farthest parish is three hours away. Kidnappings are frequent.
“Those areas are run by drug cartels, so the roads are lonely and very dangerous,” she said. “We drive on our own, since we have no staff that can ride with us. That’s been quite a challenge, but I know that Jesus, Mary and all the saints are aboard. It’s very exciting though, because this is about lay leader formation, and we are willing to make the trip for them.”
She emphasizes,
If I die on the frontline, it will have been worth it.”
Her courage adds new meaning to the phrase “Jesus is my copilot.”
On one occasion, her car broke down when she was by herself on a remote road and had no cell phone signal. She was forced to flag down another driver, who fortunately was able to help her. It could have easily been a kidnapper, looking for easy prey.
Despite the risks and realities of life in northern Mexico, she is adamant that no corner of her diocese or any community should be neglected or denied the love of the Church. She inspires people with her joy, ever-present smile and determination.
Putting her training to use
The leafy and pristine campus of Boston College, where Sister Tere earned her master’s degree in applied leadership with an Extension scholarship, must feel like a long way from the cartel-patrolled, desert roads of northern Mexico. But she insists that the degree left her with a wealth of knowledge and ideas to implement as a leader in Mexico.
She says her marketing class, for instance, equipped her well. “That class gave me the confidence to know that I can do it, that marketing is needed to offer a product. It helped me to think about ways to make the product that we offer in the Church attractive to the people, so they can come to Jesus.”
The skills I acquired at Boston College helped me get creative to spark interest among catechists and parish leaders.”
While she earned her degree, the program also funded her ministry in Arkansas where she worked in rural parishes, creating religious education programs and serving women who were survivors of domestic violence. She also helped connect Hispanic and Anglo families into a united community of faith. She describes this experience as “spectacular.”
A pioneer for other sisters
Sister Tere was part of the inaugural group of women religious in Catholic Extension Society’s U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program, which was developed in partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. It continues to grow. A hundred other sisters have participated over the past decade, with 50 more set to join the program later this year.
The five-year program provides an opportunity for Catholic sisters from religious congregations founded and based in Latin America to come to the United States to pursue a university degree while they serve the poor in an Extension diocese.
She, pictured below with 10 of the 35 other sisters in the program’s first cohort, became pioneers.
They have now been deployed by their superiors throughout the world, applying their skills to the various ministries and leadership positions in which they find themselves.
Her advice to future sisters participating in the program is this:
“Take full advantage of the education that Catholic Extension Society has so wonderfully provided to enrich yourselves and improve your ministry, so that in the future you will return with better skills and abilities in service of your mission.”
Catholic Extension Society is a non-profit organization that builds up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities in the poorest regions of America. Our support of the U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program in this story is made possible thanks to the generosity of our donors. Please consider supporting our mission!
