This past April, Catholic Extension Society brought more than 60 religious sisters and lay women leaders on a pilgrimage to Rome. We were honored to invite them to gather in a private audience with Pope Francis.
The women are all beneficiaries of Catholic Extension Society’s support or are recipients of our Lumen Christi Award or our Spirit of Fracis Award.
In the Gospel stories, women are the ones who accompany the suffering Jesus to the cross while the other disciples scatter in fear. They are also the first to encounter Him as the risen one. They are the first to give witness to His other disciples of the transformative power of what God is doing through His Son for of all humanity.
Today, Catholic Extension Society supports thousands of women in the United States in their ministries on the peripheries, and we support their education and development as Church leaders. These heroic and exemplary women are each building the “field hospital” Church that Pope Francis frequently speaks of, which walks in solidarity with the people whom our culture and society have deemed disposable.
Pope Francis, pictured with our delegation below, said “I encourage you as well to continue to express ‘God’s style’ in the work that you do. God’s style is never distant, detached or indifferent. Instead, it is one of closeness, compassion and tender love.”
“It is my hope that your service will always reflect these qualities, showing that God draws near to our lives, that he is moved to compassion for those in difficult situations, and that his love calls us to be in relationship with him and to see our neighbor as truly a brother and sister,” he continued.
The women listed below who met Pope Francis are each exceptional leaders. Read how each of them are carrying out the work of the Church:
Sister Clarice Suchy, STJ
Sister Clarice Suchy, a Teresian sister from Sacred Heart Parish in Uvalde, Texas, has been caring for the victims of the mass shooting on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School, which left 19 children and two adults dead. She walks with the families in the community who continue to suffer through unimaginable pain and grief. Catholic Extension Society was present with the community on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, and is supporting her and her fellow sisters in their healing ministry.
In this photo, she hugs a teacher who sheltered children at Robb Elementary School on the day of the mass shooting in May 2022.
Jean Fedigan
Jean Fedigan (below), our 2022-2023 Lumen Christi Award recipient, founded Sister José Women’s Center in Tucson, Arizona. The center serves women who have been trafficked and experienced violence, homelessness and hunger.
Fedigan said at a press conference in the Vatican, “Our homeless women are in tunnels and in alleys and on the streets. We believe that we follow the mission of Christ. So, when these women come in, we feed the hungry, clothe the naked and try to help them heal all in the love of God.”
Sister Marie-Paule Willem, FMM
Sister Marie-Paule Willem (below), a Franciscan Missionary of Mary, received Catholic Extension Society’s 2018-2019 Lumen Christi Award. She is a human rights activist and war survivor who has spent a lifetime promoting the dignity of individuals and families. She ministered in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay where she risked her life on behalf of the condemned placed in internment camps. Today she serves women in detention in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Sister Marie-Paule said, “When I take care of the women in our jail in Las Cruces, they look forward to hearing how it’s possible—even in jail—to feel a kind of freedom in their hearts. They themselves have to make this a place of freedom, even though they are incarcerated. And then the hope they have once they are really physically free, then they will be free spiritually and psychologically.”
Sister Fatima Santiago, ICM
Sister Fatima Santiago is a missionary sister. She received Catholic Extension Society’s 2014-2015 Lumen Christi Award and is a member of our Board of Governors. She works in the colonias of Peñitas, Texas, and is dedicated to the economic empowerment of immigrant women at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In the photo below, she walks with our president, Father Jack Wall, in a new church serving a community she works with in southern Texas. The church was built with support from Catholic Extension Society.
Sister Fatima said, “In the colonias the women are the powerhouse of a community of a church. With that maternal care and with their intelligence, they are able to go for any fundraising for the church, any sacramental preparation. Women carry on the work of the church. I feel it not only in our communities, it is happening everywhere.”
Sister Carol Keehan, D.C.
Sister Carol Keehan is a member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. She is the former CEO of the Catholic Health Association.
At a 2022 celebration in Washington, D.C., pictured below, she received Catholic Extension Society’s Spirit of Francis Award.
She has worked closely with the U.S. government to ensure affordable health care for millions of uninsured Americans.
Sister Carol said, “It is important that the people’s voice is heard. Whether they are the well-to-do child who needed to find religion and life with Christ, or the very, very, very poor who have no voice. Whether it is an unmarried couple, or the very poorest who walk across our borders or the elderly, all their voices need to be heard.”
Melva Arbelo
Melva Arbelo (below) was our 2016-2017 Lumen Christi Award recipient. She leads Santa Teresita of the Child Jesus Children’s Home in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, for abused and neglected children who are aged 3 to 7. The hurricanes and earthquakes that devastated the island are nothing compared to the emotional and psychological devastation that the children have suffered. Arbelo, in the words of St. Teresita, “seeks to make the Lord known and loved” through the care and healing of these children.
Sister Norma Pimentel, MJ
Sister Norma Pimentel is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus and serves in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas. She has provided care to hundreds of thousands at the U.S.-Mexico border.
She received Catholic Extension Society’s Spirit of Francis Award this year.
Sister Norma said, “We are all so connected at the ground with those who are most vulnerable, with the poorest of the poor people, with those who are at the peripheries as our Holy Father has asked us to reach out to. And their voice, their presence, bringing that forward and having the world listen to them and see them is very important. And I think that this is who we are as Church.”
Latin American sisters serving in the United States
Sisters in Catholic Extension Society’s U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program made up a significant percentage of our delegation to Rome.
They represent 44 religious congregations from 11 Latin American countries. They serve immigrant communities in the United States and are taking classes for their degrees in health and human services in partnership with St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
During the pilgrimage, they sang a missionary song that has become their anthem, their rallying cry, their “mission” statement. The refrain lyrics simply say:
“Send me to the people who need your words, who need the will to live; where there is no hope, where there is no joy, simply because they do not know you.”
A special connection with Pope Francis
When the women reached to take Pope Francis’ hands, they were not empty-handed. In Fedigan’s words, they brought a gift of hands, all of the hands they’ve touched and people they’ve healed. They brought these thousands of hands to the pope as their simple gift.
In this room filled with remarkable women leaders, the pope recognized that he was in a space full of people who already know so well how to express “God’s style.” It was notable how many times he said thank you to our group. He was grateful for the work of Catholic Extension Society, and most especially to the people who do the heavy lifting on behalf of the Church every day.
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 ministries of the women in this story comes from the generosity of donors. Please consider supporting our mission!
