Ministries | JPIC Ministries After Vatican II

Click on the person's name to learn more about them.

Brief description	Author
Thais Ascanio Thais was a tireless advocate for the needs of low-income people of El Salvador, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the United States. In El Salvador Thais' efforts helped to create 500 units of housing for workers and the construction of a clinic, where she visited the sick on a daily basis. She also oversaw the creation of a large room with a TV...	droche
Marilyn Lorenz Sr. Pat Barrett was Marilyn’s first mentor while she was a student at Maryville College. She volunteered as a math teacher in the Volunteer Improvement Program for residents of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project and served as Sr. Barrett’s driver for evening meetings.	droche
Rosemary Moody Rosemary was among the first to go into the "Inner City" in Omaha to tutor and aid minorities to find better jobs, This was "real life" and opened up a field of work in which she could follow her call to the "people", to help them with their problems of education, housing and jobs. She became probation officer of the juvenile court. ...	droche
Melanie Guste The roots of my commitment to “Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation” grew in the richly textured and culturally diverse environment of New Orleans during the late 50’s and 60’s. Heavily influenced by the traditions of French, Caribbean, African American, Indigenous, and Spanish peoples, my city of origin was a deeply “poly-cultural”...	droche
Elizabeth (Betty) Renard In 1980, Sister Renard worked as a part of the social and health ministry in St. Charles Parish in Grand Coteau before returning to school at St. Louis University to obtain her nursing license. After doing so in 1988, Sister Renard served as a nurse for the Little Sisters of the Assumption in East Harlem, New York. She primarily made home...	droche
Joan Gannon In 1972, inspired by the words of the 1970 Chapter, Joan lived and worked at St. Barnabas parish in Portsmouth, RI with Phillis Heuisler, Susan Regan and Retsy Piper. During these years she engaged in prison ministry & "harbored a fugitive" (click her name to see her write up.) Later, she also conducted youth and adult activities and...	droche
Margaret Phelan 1980-1986 Margaret Phelan worked for Catholic Charities (in San Francisco and Los Angeles) with people coming into the US as refugees and migrants from all over the world. To learn more about Margaret's Phelan's work with refugees and migrants, click on the links underneath her picture.	droche
Mary Margaret (Peggy) McDonnell From 1995-2014 Peggy McDonnell created and ran the Center for Ethics in Chicago, Illinois. During these year Peggy, who was trained as a nurse, helped hundreds of individuals and families navigate the increasingly difficult ethical decisions that must be made when caring for a loved one who is ill or dying. Click on the links under Peggy's...	droche
Patricia (Pat) Geuting In June of 1967 Pat Geuting returned to Stuart Country Day School in Princeton after making her final vows in Rome. She remembers an experience she had during those days of going to a migrant camp very near Princeton and spending the day doing physical labor as a volunteer with the Migrant Workers Program. Click on the link under Pat's name...	droche
Bonnie Kearney With the openness of Vatican II, Bonnie felt called to move out of our (the Society’s) institutions in order to work in schools that were addressing: the inequality of American education – in particular quality education for the poor and marginalized; openness to broader than Catholic religious values; new approaches to education; desire to...	droche
Nancy Kehoe In 1976, Nancy did a post-doctoral fellowship at Cambridge Hospital, one of the Harvard teaching hospitals. While there she observed that no mental health professionals ever explored the religious dimension of a person’s life. Given her religious background, she found this intriguing and perplexing and began to question the omission.	droche
Mary Bridget (Mary B) Flaherty After the 1984 revision of Canon Law, a lay person was permitted to fill the role of Chancellor. Archbishop John R. Quinn of the San Francisco Archdiocese, wished a woman for that position and began a search. Mary B was one of several women interviewed and was offered the position and, with the permission of her Provincial, Sr. Nance O'Neil,...	droche
Kathleen Hughes After obtaining a PhD in Liturgical Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Kathleen served on the faculty of the Catholic Theological Union and concurrently served on the Advisory Committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. Both positions provided the possibility of challenging the status quo of the ways we addressed...	droche
Mary Jane Ferrier Mary Jane has been part of a group of environmental activists in Maine who have been fighting to protect their water and air from the pollution caused by the construction of a pipeline to transport oil from the shale fields of Canada. In MJ's words "We raised a ruckus, rallied the town, organized a campaign to thwart the plans to bring dirty...	droche
Pamela (Pam) Hickey In 1967, Pam returned to Lake Forest, to the newly built Woodlands Academy. In 1969, a call came for another foundation, a school the Society was opening on part of the campus of Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The school, Glen Oak, was founded as an experiment in the “open classroom.” There were no walls between...	droche
Marie-Louise (ML) Wolfington In the decades since Vatican II, ML has been a key player in a multitude of efforts across the USC Province to address the needs of those suffering from natural disasters, marginalization and racism. In the 1990's she joined with other RSCJ in the small town of LaBelle Florida to be in solidarity with the farm workers and others in the area...	droche
Muriel Cameron While working at Creighton University in the 1980s, Muriel began going on immersion projects with undergrads and saw the life-changing effects they had on some students. In the mid 80's she worked with Maureen Glavin, Imma DeStefanis and others in the RSCJ Vocation Office to create similar immersion experiences for Sacred Heart students. ...	droche
Mary Lou (Tippy) Guillory Tippy's work for justice was more an aspect of her love for people in general than of any particular political concerns. Throughout much of her life she was engaged in teaching or research but it was the way she lived in community and her small but consistent gestures of concern that made others see her as a person committed to creating a more...	droche
Patricia (Pat) Shaffer Pat helped to establish Founders Club at USD. It has an interesting background because first it was called Sacred Heart Club that pulled together Sacred Heart Alums who were attending USD and carrying out service projects. Then it included men whose parents had graduated from USD and wanted to be part of the club and changed the name to Sacred...	droche
Theresa Chu Theresa Chu shares several delightful memories of time spent with social justice activists in the Society including Helen Ralston, Rita Egan and Joan Kirby. She herself was a member of the "Raging Grannies" singing group which would make appearances at local protests. Read more about Theresa's memories by clicking on the link under her...	droche
Rose (Rosie) Quilter In September, 1975, I joined the staff of St. Rita Parish in Detroit, at the invitation of the Archdiocese, and of the Parish, for a 10 month pilot project as "Prayer Minister." I was living at Ephpheta House of Prayer at the time, as was Oonah Ryan, and we were part of a Prayer Ministry team serving laity in the Archdiocese with days and...	droche
Deanna Rose Von Bargen Deanna Rose's interest in social justice began with her educational ministry at St. Mary Magdalene's Parish in San Diego (1977-83) when she learned that four women and the bishop of El Salvador were murdered. She invited a Jesuit professor of moral theology, from the University of San Diego, to give a talk to parishioners on the issues...	droche
Rosemary (Rosie) Dowd When Rosie was in the noviceship, she was given a quote from John of the Cross: "Put love where there is no love, and you will find love." When asked many years later about her long ministry in jails and prisons, she said that it seemed to her that those were places you wouldn't find a lot of love, but that she was wrong. "You find a lot of...	droche
Maureen Chicoine Maureen was appointed by Bishop Straling to head St. Mary Magdalene parish in Corona CA in 1995. The parish had been founded 6 years previously by a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondolet. The Bishop had searched for a priest willing to be pastor (but) was unsuccessful . She found the diocese welcoming to women in leadership even despite the...	droche
Faine McMullen In 1967, Sr. McMullen took a leave of absence from the Society so she could spend a year and a half experiencing the life of people in a poor and disenfranchised neighborhood of Boston. During that pivotal time, she shared, “I studied the poor who surrounded me. I grew to love them, and ever since their problems have been...	droche