Mercy Investment Services: 10 Years of Values and VisionMercy Connections’ first executive director. The vision that women could be entrepreneurs has become the signature work of

JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2020 Bimonthly publication for sisters, associates and companions of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Mercy Investment Services: 10 Years of Values and Vision

also in this issue:

Liturgy, Arts and Diplomacy: That’s How We Build a Church

Sisterhood of Sports

page 8

F E A T U R E S

4 Mercy Investment Services: 10 Years of Investing with Values and a Vision

By Bryan J. Pini

8 Liturgy, Arts and Diplomacy: That’s How We Build a Church

By Beth Rogers Thompson

12 Sisterhood of Sports By Karel Bond Lucander

C O L U M N S

11 Justice | Joy and Lamentation at the Synod on the Amazon By Marianne Comfort

16 Vocation and Incorporation | All the Places You Might Call Home

An interview with Sister Phuong Dong by Sister Cynthia Serjak

D E P A R T M E N T S

2 Updates from Around the Institute Compiled by Mercy Communicators

17 Spice of Mercy Life | Wading in the Waters By Karel Bond Lucander

J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0

Table of Contents

A woman in an underserved community in El Salvador has access to piped water services for the first time. Read more on page 4. Credit: Oscar Leiva

page 4 page 12

BIMONTHLY PUBLICATION FOR SISTERS, ASSOCIATES AND COMPANIONS OF THE INSTITUTE OF THE SISTERS OF MERCY OF THE AMERICAS

PublisherInstitute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas 8380 Colesville Road, #300 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-6264 tel 301.587.0423 [email protected]

Editor Julie Bourbon [email protected]

Design and Production RoundPeg

TranslationMany thanks to our translators!

Advisory BoardSisters Anne Curtis, Judith Frikker, Diane Guerin, Patricia Kenny and Pat Talone. Sue Carroll, Elizabeth MacNeal, Mark Piper, Beth Thompson and Cathy Walsh.

Articles or portions thereof are protected by copyright laws and therefore cannot be reproduced or reprinted without the permission of ¡Viva! Mercy and/or the author.

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J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0 ¡Viva! Mercy 1

Dear Sisters, Associates and Companions,

The beginning of a new year invites us to a “threshold moment”—a time to stand between the known and the comfortable, and the unknown and the challenging. In considering the months ahead, we can turn to two Australian women religious poets for words of wisdom as we stand as an Institute at our threshold moment.

Sister Raphael Consedine, PBVM, offers us the image of “Trasna,” the Gaelic word that means “crossing place.” She gives advice to pilgrims who stand in a mountain gap, faced with the choice of going forward into the mist of the untraveled road or going back to the embers of yesterday’s fires. For Consedine, to go forward is to take our lives in our hands, to trust our deepest yearnings and to know that we will “have the light for the first steps.”

Sister of Mercy Mary Wickham reminds us that “the Door of Mercy rests on the threshold of need,” which we cross countless times each day as we enter ever deeper into our own needs and those of our suffering world, of people and Earth made poor by the violence, discrimination, racism and degradation that fill our daily lives. These needs demand that the Door of Mercy be kept ajar!

As we prepare for the Second Session of Chapter 2017, we can take heart that we do not cross these thresholds alone. We journey as pilgrims together, as disciples of Him who named Himself “the Way” and as daughters of Catherine, who embraced her identity as a “walking nun.” We trust that together we will make the way by walking.

Let us continue to pray the prayer for the Second Session of Chapter 2017, written by Sisters Carolyn McWatters and Theresa Saetta:

We stand at the crossroads of a new moment,

Linked to, but different from the past.

As we prepare for the work of an unknown future,

Give us trust in your unfailing providence,

Passion for the Gospel,

Belief in one another,

And hearts aflame with your mercy and love.

Let us be open to the surprises of God’s grace that await us across the threshold of Mercy!

In Mercy,

From the Institute Leadership Team

The InsTITuTe LeadershIp Team

(From leFt) SiSterS Áine o'Connor, PatriCia

mCDermott, JuDith Frikker, PatriCia Flynn

anD anne marie miller.

Updates from Around the Institute

2 ¡Viva! Mercy J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0

C O M P I L E D B Y M E R C Y C O M M U N I C A T O R S

GUAM

A CULTURAL PRACTICE on Guam is to remember the beloved dead. For centuries, the natives of Guam and the Mariana Islands have observed a deep reverence for those who have died. Since Christianity was introduced by Spanish settlers 350 years ago, the native Chamorro people have understood and accepted the Communion of Saints.

The people of Guam mark All Souls Day, November 2, as an island holiday. Families take care to freshen up the burial places as they prepare for Mass to be cele-brated at cemeteries throughout the island.

Sisters, associates and families gather annually on the Sunday before All Souls Day at Pigo Catholic Cemetery, where our sisters and associates are buried and remembered.

Sisters Orlean Pereda (left) and Agnes Palacios join the celebration at

Pigo Catholic Cemetery on All Souls Day.

Sisters from across the Institute participated in a three-day gathering in

Parsippany, New Jersey.

MID-ATLANTIC

THE INSTITUTE LEADERSHIP TEAM joined more than 360 sisters, five associates and one companion for three days in Parsippany, New Jersey, to pray, learn, listen and consult, weaving together the themes of the Chapter 2017 Recommitment, the Journey of Oneness and the Critical Concerns. Sister Elizabeth Davis, a theologian and the congregational leader of the Sisters of Mercy in Newfoundland, Canada, presented a reflection on God’s revelation through the cosmos and creation. The Sisters’ Life and Governance Committee consulted with members on the proposed Institute integrated structure. After a contemplative process by the Critical Concerns Committee, participants joined in a communal action on behalf of immigrants and made a personal commitment to respond to the needs of our times.

WEST MIDWEST

SIXTY WEST MIDWEST sisters will be celebrating jubilees this year. Some will celebrate with sisters with whom they entered, while others may celebrate individually. Regardless of how a sister chooses to observe her milestone anniversary, a vital tool in sharing the good news is the Institute website.

All prospective jubilarians are invited to submit reflections on their upcoming jubilees. These reflections, along with each sister’s photo and motto, will be featured on the website, under the “Jubilarians” tab for West Midwest. Once the jubilee list “goes live” in the spring, visitors can read about each

sister and, if they wish, send her congratulations through an online guestbook. Approximately 200 congratulatory notes come through the website each year. Please submit your reflections to Maureen Falcon, [email protected].

Sister Rosalima Wilkinson, a 2019

jubilarian, combined her jubilee

with her birthday. Rosalima’s

70/90 celebration marked her “70

years as a Sister of Mercy and 90

years of living.”

CARIBBEAN, CENTRAL AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA

SISTER RAYLEEN GIANNOTTI traveled to Guyana in October to accompany sisters in formation as they met to reflect on the integration of the vows and community life. Sisters from Guyana, Argentina and Jamaica participated. The experience also included visits to local ministries, such as the new Mercy Resident Care site, St. John Bosco Orphanage, Mercy Wings Vocational and Day Care Centre, and Santa Rosa, the indigenous community where our sisters ministered for many years.

In November, the CCASA Extended Leadership Team met in Lima, Perú, with the sister liaisons from each country and the various CCASA commission coordinators. It was a time of imagining what truly shared leadership will look like as we continue our Journey of Oneness.

(From left) Sisters Terry Kimingiri, Rosita Sidasmed, Meg Eckart, Roslyn

Bacchus, Anna Gakuhi, Rayleen Giannotti and Elizabeth Small gather in

Guyana.

3J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0 ¡Viva! Mercy

PHILIPPINES

ON SEPTEMBER 14, the Feast of the Holy Cross, in Saigon, Vietnam, we formally accepted two Vietnamese pre-candidates: Teresa Kieu and Maria Dang. Highlights included the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, officiated by Father John Biton, OAD, and the presence of Sister Elizabeth Bui, a Vietnamese sister in the St. Louis, Missouri, community who is assigned to Mercy Hospital, Springfield, Missouri. Her supportive presence was an inspiration to the pre-candidates ministering with the sisters at the newly opened mission.

At our Jubilee celebration on September 22, sisters, families and friends rejoiced with Sister Mary Magdalino (Maggie) Namuag (60 years), Sisters Julpha Meron and Liwanag Salazar (50 years) and Sister Andrea Catubig (25 years) in thanking God for the grace-filled religious life they have experienced in the Mercy family and in their ministries. They expressed “no regrets.”

NORTHEAST

MORE THAN 200 WOMEN entrepreneurs, Sisters of Mercy and other guests attended Mercy Connections’ “Women Making Change” celebration on October 1 in Burlington, Vermont. At this event, a panel of women entrepreneurs shared their wisdom and expertise, and Sisters Lindora Cabral and Janice Ryan were recognized for helping to launch the Women’s Small Business Program, which began as a partnership between Trinity College and the City of Burlington in 1989. Janice was president of

Trinity College at the time, and Lindora later served as Mercy Connections’ first executive director. The vision that women could be entrepreneurs has become the signature work of Mercy Connections.

(From left) Sister Lindora Cabral laughs with Peggy Williams, Ithaca College

president emerita, and Sister Janice Ryan at a Women Making Change

celebration in Burlington, Vermont. Credit: Mercy Connections

(From left): Pre-candidate Maria

Dang, Sister Letty de los Santos,

pre-candidate Teresa Kieu and Sisters

Elizabeth Bui and Elvira Dantes.

SOUTH CENTRAL

GRAMMY-WINNING singer Lauryn Hill, prominent members of the music industry and the Bob Marley Foundation donated 10 scholarships for the 2019–2020 academic year to Alpha Institute in Kingston, Jamaica. The Mercy-sponsored boys’ school has played a pivotal role in the island’s music. A story about Alpha appears on the Billboard website at bit.ly/AlphaBoysSchool.

Sisters, co-workers and associates celebrated Mercy mile-stones in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Louisville, Kentucky (150

years), and Laredo, Texas (125 years).

Sister Mary Aidan Donaldson died at 111 on October 25. She was believed to be the world’s oldest living Sister of Mercy.

St. Vincent’s Academy in Savannah, Georgia, held a ribbon cutting and blessing

of renovated offices in conjunction with Mercy Day. Cutting the ribbon are former

principals Sisters Helen Marie Buttimer (left) and Jude Walsh. Looking on are

(from left) Mary Anne Hogan, school president, and Sisters Lillian Quadrella,

Susan Harms, Paula Cockerham and Gilmary O’Hayer.

NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA WEST

ERIC RUFF is the new director for mission advancement, based in Buffalo, New York.

Sisters in Rochester, New York, raised more than $18,000 for a new hallway roof at Mercy Center.

Mercy Giving Circles awarded $15,200 in Buffalo and $4,500 in Erie, Pennsylvania, to non-profits serving women and children.

Sisters in Erie were lauded for their ministry at a gala marking the 25th anniversary of the Mercy Center for Women.

Carlow University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is

marking 90 years with a series of celebratory events.In Buffalo, Sisters blessed a refurbished 107-year-old

tabernacle for their chapel.In October, Sisters Diane Marie Erskine and Janet Korn of

Rochester enjoyed at 16-day trip to Ireland, which they won in a drawing at the June gathering.

Sisters Georgine Scarpino, left,

and Mary Ann Karas share

ideas during a table discussion

in Pittsburgh at a consultation

on sisters’ life and governance.

Consultations were also held in

Buffalo, Erie and Rochester.


10 Years of Investing with Values and a Vision

In Dublin in 1827, Catherine McAuley humbly used her influence to connect the rich with the eco-

nomically poor of Dublin society, an effort that grew to have a global reach. But could she ever have imagined a day when Mercy would not only challenge the cul-ture and behavior of some of the world’s largest industries and corporations—pharmaceutical manufacturers, energy companies, hotels and airlines, a major sporting goods chain, even Coca-Cola—but also promote a more just and sustainable world through shareholder advocacy and impact investments?

That is just what Mercy Investment Services, which celebrates its tenth anniversary on February 1, does. As the single investment program for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Mercy Investment pursues a socially responsible asset management model to effect system-ic change and provide needed capital to organizations in underserved communities. By utilizing the resources entrusted to us, as Catherine used her inheritance, Mercy Investment advocates for the global concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, in collaboration with the Institute Justice Team, Mercy International Association and Mercy Global Concern. Just as Catherine brought the rich and poor into relationship with one another, so, too, does socially responsible investing.

Sister Mary Waskowiak was president of the Institute when the financial norm was established to create Mercy Investment Services and consolidate Mercy investments.

“Thankfully, Mercy had wonderful justice people who said that if we’re going to do this, we need to think of how to use money justly,” she says. “What’s happened since

In 2006, as a result of decisions made at the previous year’s Chapter, Institute President Sister Mary Waskowiak authorized that all investments be consolidated into a single investment program, to better steward and increase the impact of the financial resources of the Sisters of Mercy and any Institute sponsored or co-sponsored ministry that chose to participate. This decision was followed by two years of intense preparation that included establishing financial norms for the Institute. See how we’ve grown in the last 10 years.

By Bryan J. Pini

2008 and 2009 is incredible. The gem is socially respon-sible investing.”

The Sisters of Mercy have a long legacy of active investing, including engaging companies and voting proxies. For the past decade, Mercy Investment has amplified the Mercy voice by harnessing the collective power of our investments to push companies to change and make positive investments in people and planet through shareholder advocacy, impact investing from the Mercy Partnership Fund and a growing focus on investments that benefit the environment.

2009 2019Companies Engaged 35 150Environmental Solutions Fund $0 $45 millionMercy Partnership Fund $9 million $40 million

From a Mustard Seed

Mercy Investment

Services:


Shareholder AdvocacyIn addition to using investment returns to support the mission, Mercy Investment helps Sisters of Mercy and others leverage their power as investors to persuade companies to make changes for the common good, especially those related to Mercy's Critical Concerns: nonviolence, anti-racism, immi-gration, care for Earth and fullness of life for women.

“Socially responsible investing and shareholder advocacy are things we Sisters of Mercy can do better together. It’s clear to me that by forming Mercy Investment Services, we brought disparate and part-time efforts in our regional Communities to a very mission-focused ministry,” says Sister Susan Vickers, a member of the Social Responsibility Committee and former board chair. “They incorporate the mind and heart of Mercy into the decisions they make and encounters they have.”

By 2013, Mercy Investment was providing shareholder advocacy services for the Institute as a whole, as well as for Catholic healthcare systems, religious communities and faith-based organizations that lacked the capacity or resources to engage in this work on their own. Today, Mercy Investment represents nine of these partners with $35 billion in assets under management, engaging companies on issues that are important to them or to their local communities.

“It’s a testimony that we were doing something right with Mercy Investment Services, that it attracted the attention of health care and other religious communities. I’m proud that we’re willing to share it,” says Mary.

Continuing that critical work today, our shareholder voice is even stronger as we represent all Sisters of Mercy of the Americas through corporate engagements, company dialogues, shareholder resolutions and proxy voting. Representing other like-minded organizations, and thus more shares in a company, strengthens our voice as we push companies toward systemic change that addresses social and environ-mental justice concerns.

“I do think it’s a characteristic of Mercy to really engage, especially at this time, with the call of Pope Francis for a culture of encounter to stay engaged, in particular where there are differences,” says Sister Anne Curtis, a member of the Social Responsibility Committee. “Given the legislative situation we face in this country, where laws and regulations are being decimated, we can still use our voice to engage and stay at the table.”

A few highlights of our shareholder engagements include:

• Mercy Investment Services co-founded the Investors for Opioid Accountability (IOA), which has filed 50 resolutions on board oversight of opioid risks at pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

• Utility companies such as AES and Southern have committed to retiring existing coal plants and reducing emissions. AES has become an industry leader in renewable energy generation and storage, bringing the world’s largest solar-plus-storage system online.

• Engagements with hotel chains, airlines and trucking companies have led those industries to train employees to identify human trafficking victims. Hotel chains and airlines have also refused to provide services to migrant detainees being transported to detention facilities.

• Our engagements with Dick’s Sporting Goods led the company to end sales of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines and to stop selling firearms to anyone under the age of 21. We continue to pursue accountability for retailers and gun manufacturers.

• We have pressured companies that use significant amounts of water in production, such as Coca-Cola and Campbell’s Soup, to reduce water usage and worked to return water used in production to the communities in which they operate through rainwater harvesting and improved water sanitation.

Shareholder Advocacy: Key Points

Investors for Opioid Accountability:

58 investors representing

$4.3 trillion in assets under management

9 faith-based partners with

$35 billion in assets under management

200 annual engagements with

150 companies

Trained to recognize human trafficking:

250,000 airline staff

730,000 truck drivers

700,000 hotel employees

MERCY INVESTMENT REPRESENTS:

What is proxy voting? Mercy Investment Services votes its proxies—meaning we vote as shareholders of the companies owned in our portfolio—for all U.S. and global company annual meetings to press them to address environmental, social and governance concerns.

In the 2019 proxy year, Mercy Investment voted on:

26,500ballot initiatives

2,150U.S. and global proxies


Mercy Partnership FundTo expand our rich history of community investing, Mercy Investment directed a portion of its portfolio to the Mercy Partnership Fund, a critical component of our impact portfolio. The Mercy Partnership Fund makes below-market-rate loans to organizations creating positive social and environmental impacts by addressing underlying social justice issues. The work of these powerful organizations includes addressing inadequate access to housing, jobs, education and health services in underserved communities. A few of our current investees include:

• Mercy Housing and Mercy Loan Fund – Provide affordable housing and supportive services for low-income families, seniors and people with special needs throughout the United States.

• Azure Source Capital – Works to improve water and sanitation services for underserved communities in El Salvador.

• Shared Interest – Provides access to local capital and technical support for small and growing businesses, farmers with two acres of land or less, and coopera-tives in low-income communities of color in South Africa and other southern African countries.

• First Nations Oweesta Corporation – Provides investment capital, training and technical assistance to Native community development financial institutions.

• Solar and Energy Loan Fund – Offers energy expertise and low-cost loans to homeowners and small businesses in underserved communities to finance sustainable, energy-efficient property improvements.

Mercy Partnership Fund

Mercy’s History of Community Investing

Prior to the formation of Mercy Investment Services, several of the then-regional Communities of the Sisters of Mercy were active in community investing, making low-interest loans to organizations that helped the economically poor, especially women and children, concentrating on those unserved by traditional financial sources such as banks. In many cases, the Sisters of Mercy channeled Catherine’s pioneer spirit by being one of the first investors in these organizations.

A member of the Masilakhe (“Let us build” in Zulu) cooperative at Rietkloof Farm

in South Africa. The cooperative purchased the farm, which has grape vines and

orange trees, with a loan guarantee from Shared Interest.

60 organizations in 59 countries and all

50 states. Investments have quadrupled to

$40 million since 2009.

In calendar year 2018, Mercy

Partnership Fund loaned to:

Sister Dale Jarvis currently serves on the Mercy Partnership Fund (MPF) subcommittee and has been deeply involved in Mercy’s work in Haiti, including with MPF investee Fonkoze, whose Chemen Lavi Miyo (Pathway to a Better Life) program helps Haitian women living in extreme pov-erty build sustainable livelihoods to support themselves and their families. Dale had the opportunity to attend Fonkoze’s graduation in January 2019.

“Because of Mercy Investment Services and all its com-ponents, I’ve seen women standing tall and saying goodbye to misery,” says Dale. “I see Mercy Partnership Fund loans actually being put to direct service. These loans are helping the ultrapoor and empowering women.”


Environmental Solutions FundRecognizing that addressing climate change is the greatest moral imperative of our time, in 2015 Mercy Investment created the Environmental Solutions Fund, another critical aspect of our impact investing portfolio. This initiative funds projects focused on renewable energy, energy and water efficiency, materials recycling, green buildings, sustainable agriculture and sustainable forestry, including:

• Berkeley Energy – Accelerates social, economic and environmental sustainability through the development, construction and operation of small hydro, wind, geothermal, solar and biomass renewable energy facilities in the Philippines, Indonesia and India.

• Starsight – Provides clean, reliable, affordable energy in Nigeria through the installation of solar-diesel-battery hybrid systems to store green energy and offers its customers significant power cost savings, while reducing CO2 emissions and greenhouse gases.

• sPower – Funds wind and solar renewable energy projects in the southwest United States; puts 4 million solar panels in operation that generate 1.3 gigawatts of clean power per year.

• AeroFarms and Living Green Farms – Vertical farming operators—using stacked growing methods such as hydroponics and aeroponics—use 95 percent less water, no pesticides or herbicides, and fewer nutrients than traditional farming. The U.S.-based farms reduce the carbon footprint of vegetables by growing fresh produce in areas that typically require long-haul transport to receive the product.

• Volta – National network of electric vehicle charging stations. Volta uses advertising on almost 1,000 charging stations in high-traffic areas and partnerships with the location owners to keep the charging stations free for vehicle owners.

“What will be interesting, as we celebrate 10 years, is what on the horizon is calling us?” said Mary. “I’m curious at the 10-year marker, what’s the 15-year sight?”

Bryan J. Pini is the president and chief investment officer of Mercy Investment Services. He can be reached at [email protected].

Environmental Solutions Fund … present in 14 countries and 23 statesMercy Partnership Fund

Committed more than $100 million to environmental innovators in the last five years

A vertical farm in New Jersey uses less water than traditional farming and no pesticides or herbicides. A solar energy facility in India was developed by Berkeley

Energy’s Renewable Energy Asia Fund.

Avoided 4.8 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2018 alone

Created 5.1 gigawatts of clean energy capacity since 2015

A wind project in the province of Oriental Mindoro (island

of Mindoro) in the Philippines.

Look for more about Mercy Investment Services in the March/April issue of ¡Viva! Mercy.

That’s How We Build a Church


Liturgy, Arts and Diplomacy:

By Beth Rogers Thompson

Sister Marilyn Morgan loaned her liturgical design con-

sultation skills to a complete renovation of Our Mother of

Confidence Church in San Diego, California. She and the

renovation chairperson, Tom Finn, inspect the project.

The stained-glass windows

at the Mercy Gilbert Medical

Center chapel in Arizona.



Attention to such details is at the heart of Sister Marilyn Morgan’s ministry as a liturgical design consultant based in San Francisco, California. She collaborates with churches and hospitals as they build or renovate worship spaces, work she’s been doing for 21 years in different cultural and geographic contexts across the United States.

After earning a master’s degree in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame, she served as a liturgist for par-ishes in San Jose and Dublin, California, as well as in San Francisco.

She left that ministry in 1998 but still wanted to work in liturgy. A friend suggested she look into what was then a new program at Chicago Theological Union, training architects, artists and liturgists to be consultants for worship-space design. She knew at once that she’d found her niche.

“It involves everything that I love—architecture, music, art. I get to work in all those things,” she says, adding that her ministry also involves a surprising amount of conflict resolution because worship is at once both personal and communal, and meeting everyone’s expectations can be fraught. “It’s a very delicate job. You have to be extremely respectful of where people are.”

This ministry demands an awareness of different cultures, Marilyn notes: An African-American church’s needs differ from those of a Filipino church. She has consulted with both of these communities and many others.

“At the African-American church, the whole committee was women because they are the decision-makers. That was really interesting. We had to allow space for their dances and movement within the liturgy, and also the place of music within the church—up front and central to the actions within the liturgy,” she says. “With the Filipinos, devotions are central to their faith life; they have all these shrines on wheels that they bring in during devotions because they want to be close to them.”

Another parish was half-Anglo, half-Hispanic (Mexican and Guatemalan), which presented challenges because each group thought it knew what the other wanted. “We’d have meetings with translators, and the Anglos would say they knew Guadalupe was important to the people—let’s put this statue out in the garden,” Marilyn recalls. She knew that put-ting Our Lady of Guadalupe in a corner would alienate half the parish and said as much, leading to a compromise. “We put her in a small alcove right off the worship space, so she’s front and center, and the people were delighted.”

Marilyn recalls another incident at an Indian reservation in Arizona, where there was a clash over the collection basket between Hispanics and Native Americans. “I showed them a picture of this beautiful Indian basket another tribe had donated to a parish for the collection basket, and a couple yelled out, ‘That is for trash!’” she recalls. “This couple just could not open themselves up to somebody else’s culture. To them it was just a trash basket.”

Currently, Marilyn is consulting on the renovation of a church in Daly City near San Francisco. The goal is to convert a cluttered multi-purpose space used for everything from church dinners and meetings—even, in the distant past, for kids’ rollerblading—into a beautiful worship space.

“They wanted it to look like a church,” she says. “So then we had to define what that would mean. We started with stained-glass windows to give some sense of ambi-ance.”

The parishioners chose a contem-porary design and designer, but the archbishop withheld his approval, insisting that there be identifiable fig-ures of the church’s patron saint in the windows. This caused some prob-

lems, since the artist’s work was mainly with abstract not figurative designs. But the windows—ultimately of a more traditional design—are installed and, Marilyn says, the parishioners really like them.

Other challenges remain, not least of which is financing the renovation to its completion, including paying for fur-niture and a baptismal font; someone donated funds for a beautiful corpus for the crucifix, which is being made in Germany.

“It’s an interesting challenge,” Marilyn says. “The people have hung in there through this long process of multiple pastors and all the fund-raising. They’re really committed to getting this done.”

The next time you’re in a church, look around and consider what you see: perhaps wooden pews or chairs, stained-glass windows, altar, crucifix, baptismal font. Who created them, chose them, arranged them in that particular way? Chances are these choices weren’t accidental.

“I enjoy trying to understand people and their cultures and their

faith life. It’s an awesome responsibility.”

The altar at the Mercy

Gilbert Medical Center

chapel in Arizona.


Representing the Whole Church

Among the challenges of liturgical design consulting is working with architects unfamiliar with the demands of worship spaces. For example, Marilyn heard of a project that included an access ramp at a 90-degree angle, making it impossible to move coffins at funeral Masses. Another church had doors too narrow to allow for pallbear-ers, so coffins had to be pushed through them alone.

“One architect wanted to design a baptismal font totally out of wood,” which would be ruined by the water, she recalls. “Some don’t know what’s done in a liturgy or how things move; they don’t know the terminology. So they need someone who knows that and can help them design.”

Although some building committees think hiring a con-sultant is an unnecessary expense, she notes, that expertise actually can help save money and avoid costly mistakes.

Marilyn did some educational sessions for a Lutheran church in Boise, Idaho, that was having problems in the middle of construction. People weren’t talking to one another, and they hadn’t involved the music director—prob-lems that are not atypical.

“A lot of people do that—they don’t know whom to involve, whom to ask about various details,” says Marilyn. “The makeup of the building committee is really important; you need representatives of the whole church, different age groups and philosophies. Eighty-year-olds might not realize that young mothers need a place for their fussy children.”

One of her favorite completed projects is the chapel at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center in Gilbert, Arizona. “It was built from the ground up, so I was involved in its creation before the hospital was built,” she says. “We wanted to bring in the concept of creation, so we have a hand-carved screen of a tree, and it forms the backdrop for the altar area. It kind of enfolds you when you walk in.” Among the chapel’s other features are a bronze tabernacle, a hand-blown

glass bowl for holy water at the entrance and a tapestry of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Marilyn notes that the committee was religiously diverse, including a member of the Mormon faith. “Everybody worked together,” she says.

Laurie Harting, who was CEO and president of Mercy Gilbert at the time, says she felt blessed to work on the hospital’s design and

construction oversight; she would go on to lead the hospital after it opened in June 2006.

“I’m very passionate about art,” she says, “and I wanted to make sure that when you walk into this hospital, you can sense it is a unique, healing place.”

Harting and Marilyn were introduced by another Sister of Mercy, and Harting took an immediate liking to Marilyn’s approach to the chapel’s design and her desire to create some-thing the community would relate to. “We formed a friendship along with coming up with conceptual ideas for the cha-pel,” says Harting. Marilyn did her research, met with artists and brought back different design options that the two would discuss before selecting, Harting says, “something special.”

The chapel is prominently placed near the hospital entrance, Harting says, and has a strong Mercy presence. “I wanted a statue of Catherine McAuley, and I wanted her to be smiling, welcoming,” Harting recalls. Marilyn com-missioned an artist to create “a beautiful bronze statue that greets people at the front of the hospital.”

The result is a sacred space used not only by patients’ families but also by hospital employees looking to escape the noise and chaos for a few moments of quiet, prayerful respite.


“My favorite part of this ministry is working with the people,” Marilyn says. “It’s also the hardest thing, but very rewarding when you see them moving along, and I enjoy trying to understand them and their cultures and their faith life. It’s an awesome responsibility.”

More people are involved in planning worship spaces today than has historically been the case, she adds. “Before, a pastor and architect would work together, present the finished project to the people and give them the bill.”

Over the years, design preferences have shifted. For example, seating has evolved to more of a horseshoe, U-shape, rather than school-bus rows; now people tend to gather around the altar.

Also, music is no longer relegated to the balcony or back of the church, but is often up front. “That’s a definite change,” Marilyn says, adding, “When a planning commit-tee omits the musicians, it’s a major issue.”

The design process, she notes, comes down to one very important sentiment: “Sifting out what is nostalgia, what is of value and what you want to pass on to future generations,” Marilyn says. “That’s how we build a church.”

Beth Rogers Thompson is a writer/communi-cations specialist for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, South Central. She can be reached at [email protected].

“Sifting out what is nostalgia, what is of value and what you

want to pass on to future generations—that’s how we

build a church.”

Sister Marilyn Morgan unveils a sculpture

of Catherine McAuley outside the Mercy

Gilbert Medical Center chapel in Arizona.


J U S T I C E

For the Sisters of Mercy and our partners, standing in soli-darity with indigenous communities harmed by extractive industries in the Amazon region of South America usually has involved offering hospitality and scheduling legislative visits and educational forums when delegations have visited Washington, D.C. In October 2019, it meant joining in prayer and public witness in St. Peter’s Square with these courageous defenders of human rights and the land.

Indigenous leaders and their allies had come to Rome for the Synod on the Amazon, some of them as official participants in the three-week process but most as observers and supporters from beyond the meeting rooms. They led educational sessions, spoke with the media and, most importantly, brought to prayer their experiences of oppression, violence and plunder.

In one extraordinarily powerful moment, at a church just outside the Vatican, indigenous leaders in cer-emonial dress approached many of us kneeling in the pews, lifted our chins and urged us to rise in a symbolic act of forgiveness. The leaders had just lamented all the mining, deforestation and other forms of destruction they had suffered since early colonization. The entire assembly then walked out into the darkening evening with candles and, singing joyfully in Spanish and Portuguese, processed to the large public space being prepared for a canonization liturgy the next day.

Later in the Synod, the same leaders and others from parts of the world experiencing similar oppres-sion and environmental devastation led a Way of the Cross through St.

Peter’s Square. These participants included Rodney Bordeaux of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and leaders from the Congo Basin in Africa. At each stop, those assembled commemorated martyrs, such as Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Dorothy Stang, who died defending the land, water and very lives of indigenous communities. At the end, in a sign of resurrection and new life for the church in the Amazon, an indigenous woman gave a girl of European heritage a shirt and head-dress; the girl’s face was painted and a rattle placed in her hand before she was lifted into a canoe and carried around the circle.

The less-solemn occasion of an outdoor lunch, hosted by the Global Catholic Climate Movement, brought Catholic cardinals, indigenous leaders and members of partner organizations

together for a typical multi-course Italian meal. We shared places in creation that have special meaning for us and wrote prayer ribbons for the success of the Synod. A mimed presentation that told the story of harmony in nature, disruption by the arrival of European colonizers and eventual reconciliation concluded with much of the assembly dancing under the trees.

After all of this, it was with joy that I read the English summary of the final document that came out of the Synod. The calling out of “predatory extractivism” and the criminalization of protesters, the proposal to define “ecological sins,” and the attention to human rights—including the right to water—clearly were as present to Synod participants in the meeting halls as they were to those of us gathered on the outside.

—Marianne Comfort

Joy and Lamentation at the Synod on the Amazon

At a ceremony marking resurrection and new life for the Church in the Amazon, a girl of European heritage is carried around in a canoe after being given a headdress and rattle and having her face painted by an Indigenous woman. Credit: Marianne Comfort

Whether rock climbing, competing in the equestrian ring or coaching basketball,

sports have made a difference in the lives of these eight sisters. May their stories

inspire new adventures!

How athletics build confidence, encourage teamwork and deepen spiritual connections

By Karel Bond Lucander

Sister Laurie Orman

Sister Eileen McGowan

Sister Patty Moriarty Sister Pat Coward

Sister Mary FanningSister Roslyn Bacchus



Envisioning a Ball and Bat

Sister Roslyn BacchusEntered: 2009Current Ministry: Teacher at Plaisance Primary School, Guyana

“My image of God is as a sports man,” says Sister Roslyn Bacchus. “He’s always there, whenever I go to him, to kick a ball to me or pass me a bat.”

At 13, Roslyn was the youngest player ever

selected for Guyana’s national female cricket squad. A fierce opponent, she played hard for eight years until she entered the Sisters of Mercy.

“Sports has been a part of me from a tender age. But I also always wanted to be a sister, from a very young age,” she says.

She currently teaches 32 second-graders in a rural classroom and incorporates exercise into their days. Last November, she participated in the Guyana National Athletics Championship and received gold and bronze medals in the javelin competition. She was also named “NAC Woman of the Tournament” and drove away with a prize motorcycle.

Roslyn says she will always be involved in athletics. “Sports can help you when you’re struggling and cheer you up when you’re down,” she says.

Competing in the Equestrian Ring

Sister Trish TylerEntered: 1986Current Ministry: Co-director of the Rural House of Mercy, Erie, Pennsylvania

“At age 3, my dad put me up on his horse, and from that moment on I didn’t want to get off,” says Sister Trish Tyler. Growing up in the country, she says, there was always a horse in the barn, and of the five Tyler siblings, she’s the one who really took to the saddle.

She joined 4-H and started showing horses competitively at age 7. Before long, she was

working for neighboring stables, bathing and brushing the horses and cleaning their stalls and riding for an hour or two each day. “My parents said it kept me out of trouble,” she says, with a chuckle.

In her early 20s, Trish realized a longtime goal by receiving the Grand Championship Award at the prestigious Penn Ohio Morgan Horse Show. She was atop Silverthorn Duchess who, she says, was “a sharp performer but sometimes a little bit crazy.”

For Trish, nearly 25 years of working with horses and appreciating their beauty reinforced her spirituality. “It brought me to a deep sense of God’s presence,” she says. “Realizing that God created each horse with a unique personality sparked wonder and awe within me.”

Running the Distance

Sister Patty MoriartyEntered: 1988Current Ministry: Leadership Team Member, Northeast

Her fast footwork started at age 7 as a competitive Irish stepdancer and continued through her first semester of college.

But as the youngest of five, Sister Patty Moriarty’s athletic conditioning really began by trailing four big brothers.

Trying to keep up with them led her to play high school bas-ketball and softball. She enjoyed softball so much, she con-tinued playing with the same teammates for years afterward.

Her love of teamwork now extends to the Sisters of Mercy. In 1996, when she took her perpetual vows, the sisters knew she needed a new softball glove and gave her one with a note, “Welcome to the team.”

Later, she discovered a love for running after her sister-in-law tapped her to train for the Avon Road Race in the 1990s. “Once we started, we got hooked,” she says.

After taking on her first half marathon in Connemara, Ireland, she ran other long-distance races in Connecticut and Paris, France. Having run races for various charities for many years, Patty’s commitment to raising money for breast cancer research intensified due to her own breast cancer diagnosis in 2012.

She finds the experience to be exercise for the soul as well as the body. “More often than not, I’m praying when I run,” says Patty. “I get into the rhythm of running and it takes me right into center.”

Sister Trish atop Silverthorn Duchess at the 1979 Penn Ohio Morgan Horse Show, where she won the Grand Championship Award.

Sister Roslyn Bacchus atop the motorcycle she won at Guyana’s 2018 National Athletics Championship.

Sister Patty running a half marathon in Connemara, Ireland, April 1, 2012.


Hoops of Honor

Sister Pat CowardEntered: 1976Current Ministry: Leadership Team Member, South Central

Sister Pat Coward loves basketball—the fast pace and the strategy of movement among the five players. She grew up playing basketball and field hockey, and continued through college.

“Even though it was hard work and didn’t always show on our faces, it was just fun to play,” she says. “You think of sweating to death and gut-

wrenching runs for field hockey, but what I remember the most is the laughing, the overnight trips and the jokes we played on coaches.”

She ultimately became a women’s basketball, track and field, soccer and volleyball coach, a position she loved for 35 years.

In 2016, Pat was inducted into the Greater Savannah, Georgia, Athletic Hall of Fame. With a coaching and admin-istrative career that spanned more than three decades, she was cited for St. Vincent’s Academy championships and playoffs.

Pat says playing sports teaches lessons in dealing with adversity. “You learn a lot about teamwork, and that it’s your job to pick up your teammates.”

These days, she still stays active. “I think that ‘in motion’ is where I spend a good amount of my reflection time,” Pat says, “walking, swimming, taking it all in with my senses.”

The Thrill of Skiing

Sister Mary FanningEntered: 1963Current Ministry: Serves on the board of two healthcare systems, the stewardship committee of another and on the board of Loyola University Maryland.

She began downhill skiing at 52, and for more than a decade, Sister Mary Fanning met her seven siblings and their families where the deep winter snows blanket the mountains: Deer Valley, Utah;

Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and Stowe, Vermont. The group of 10 to 15 people ranged in age from 8 to 80.

“I enjoyed the thrill of downhill skiing, with the sense of freedom and the wind on my face. It is an exhilarating feeling,” she says.

Mary has always loved outdoor sports—biking, swim-ming, volleyball and softball. She still likes biking on the NCR (Northern Central Railroad Trail) along the Gunpowder River in Maryland.

“I can enjoy the quiet and the beauty of nature, which speaks to me of God.” After a lifetime of recreation, her game attitude is a reminder to stay open to new adventures.

In a League of Her Own

Sister Mary Bride DiamondEntered: 1953Current Ministry: Ministry of prayer; lives in the Convent of Mercy, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The youngest of eight, Sister Mary Bride Diamond learned to love sports from her family, and baseball was tops. Living in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, she recalls lis-tening to Pittsburgh Pirates games on the radio with her

mother and watching her brothers play softball. “One day, they were picking teams,” Bride remembers,

“and they needed one more person. ‘I can play!’ I said. I hit a home run on my first at-bat!”

But her youth had its share of bumps. Her father passed away when she was 5 and her mother when she was 16. Playing ball kept her grounded.

By the time she entered high school, Bride was a talented catcher for the White Street Girls, a recreational softball team. So when scouts came recruiting for the All American Girls Professional Baseball League—featured in the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own”—her coach took her to try out with 125 other young women from the area. That day in 1949, she was one of three picked for the Chicago Colleens and was told to report to Indiana for training.

“My brother Jack [her guardian] wouldn’t let me go, how-ever, because I was still in high school,” she says. But at 22 she hit another home run when she entered the Sisters of Mercy.

In 2012, at age 81, she made it back onto the field. It was Opening Day at PNC Park and her favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, honored her as “Fan of the Game.”

Special thanks to Micaela Young for her research assistance interviewing Sister Mary Bride Diamond.

Playing basketball for Salisbury State College in 1975, Sister Pat shoots the ball.

Sister Mary (far left) takes a detour into a ditch while skiing in Stowe, Vermont, in January 2004.

Sister Bride poses in her White Street Girls softball team uniform, circa 1949.


Climbing More than Mountains

Sister Laurie OrmanEntered: 2003Current Ministry: Religion teacher/campus ministry at Siena Catholic Academy

When she had the chance to go on a wilderness camping retreat and try rock climbing and caving, Sister Laurie Orman had no idea where that outdoor experience would lead her.

“Being out in nature and being with God is what drew me to start thinking about what was missing in my life,”

she says. “I realized God was calling me to something more.”

Now an avid rock climber, she also has completed four half marathons. She joined a walking group three years ago, after having thyroid surgery. “Not only do the natural endorphins help me feel energized, I also get energy from those that I share the road with,” says Laurie.

For this sister, who played volleyball, basketball and soccer during her middle and high school years, continuing her sporting life has reinforced the concepts of teamwork and trusting others.

“When we talk about being present to the world as a Sister of Mercy, hands down my sports experiences have given me that opportunity,” she says. “Physical exercise helps me in prayer. I am more able to quiet myself and spend time in meditation and contemplative prayer.”

Guiding Players with Wisdom

Sister Eileen McGowanEntered: 1966Currently: Administrator of vacation and retreat facilities, Sea Isle City, New Jersey

Growing up outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sister Eileen McGowan played all sports through CYO (Catholic Youth Organization). When one season of softball or basketball ended, she’d pick up on the next.

“I was a forward in basketball, and by the time I was in high school, we were playing more like the boys—five players running the full court. I enjoyed that,” she says. Her senior year at Bishop Conwell, the first year women could play in high school under Title 9, she pitched her softball team to first place. They were the champions of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Catholic High Schools.

“When Title 9 came, it changed everything!” she adds. “Girls came out of the woodwork, and new teams were formed everywhere. Where one or two sports existed, nine or 10 popped up.”

One year later, she entered the Sisters of Mercy. Eventually, Eileen would become a team chaplain for LaSalle University and a referee. As chaplain, she rode along on six-hour bus trips with the women’s basketball team.

“Some would complain about not getting enough time on the court, and I would tell them you’re either sending your energy from the bench or you’re out there yourself. You’re all in the game together,” she says. “I think that helped.”

Whether she was giving a pat on the back or simply passing water and towels to the players, they knew they had Eileen’s support. “I wanted them to see an older religious woman serving them, and I think it made a big impact.”

Karel Bond Lucander is a freelancer writer. She can be reached at [email protected].

Sister Laurie, rock climbing in Seneca Rocks, West Virginia, circa 2009.

Sister Eileen congratulates La Salle Coach Tom Lochner, circa 2006-10.

“When we talk about being present to the world as a Sister of Mercy, hands

down my sports experiences have given me that opportunity.”

“Sports can help you when you’re struggling and cheer you up when you’re down.”

Sister Bride holds up a baseball at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ opening day 2012, where she was honored as “Fan of the Game.”


All the Places You Might Call Home

V O C A T I O N A N D I N C O R P O R A T I O N

An Interview with Sister Phuong Dong

The image of home suggests a place you go back to, where you find friends and feel comfortable enough to rest. In the past, sisters often were rooted in a geographic area they called home. Even if they were “on mission,” they still had a clear sense of where home was. But the world has changed, and so have the Sisters of Mercy.

Younger sisters now tend to be more comfortable living in different places, knowing different kinds of people, embracing new experiences. Those of us in older generations might have questions about how our new women ever feel rooted and what is home for them. That’s what I asked Sister Phuong Dong to talk with me about.

“Home is wherever you go.”Phuong began by reflecting on her life as a Sister of Mercy. She spoke about the vow of poverty and how it invites her to be detached. “I can’t be so attached to a place or I wouldn’t be happy or healthy, or growing.” In light of the vow, Phuong understands that she can embrace living in different places, as long as she is rooted in Mercy. However, there are things that she looks for in helping her to feel at home.

“Being with each other would be the strengthening of everything” According to Phuong, who was born in Vietnam, home is where you feel love and support, where people wel-come you with open arms. It’s the place you can find someone to talk with if you’ve had a bad day in ministry. Rootedness is strengthened as you have these experiences of support.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be times of struggle. Phuong recounts that one time she used up a whole box of tissues before she was able to say, “God, I’m done. I finished crying. I’m able to let go and start my new life.”

“Once I’m rooted in Mercy, no matter what happens to me, I stay rooted.”All of the experiences that Phuong is having are strengthening the bonds of her sisterhood with others. Being rooted in Mercy is what’s important, more so than being in a particular place. She recognizes the value of technology in connecting with oth-ers, but knows it doesn’t replace actually being with them. Careful about her engagement with social media, she prefers phone and email even though they may seem “old fashioned.” At the same time, her experiences have shown her how

interconnected we are. Describing an experience in Guyana, she noted, “We are burning the forests in Brazil and affecting the temperature in Guyana!”

“Connecting with each other is major.”Phuong values the times when she is able to connect with her peers because, “In the future, we are going to be together, so we have to know each other.” She participates in the gatherings of new members in the United States even as she recognizes the challenges of travel. She also looks forward to the Mercy-ing expe-rience, where those under 50 gather from across the Institute, as they did in November in Peru. “No mat-ter how difficult it is, when we have each other, it makes us stronger.”

—Sister Cynthia Serjak

Sister Phuong Dong sorts food at her ministry at Catholic Charities in Charlotte, North Carolina.


create flies—masterfully economizing. This is what she calls her “shoestring” concept of understanding tying tools and supplies and using inexpensive alternatives to teach beginning tying techniques.

For her efforts, Carol Anne has been featured in Outdoor Life magazine, Smithsonian Magazine and even chatted with David Letterman when he hosted the Late Show. But she is not one to be overly impressed with herself. To Carol Anne, fishing and immersing herself in nature are spirit enriching.

“You can’t fly cast in an ugly place with an ugly disposition,” she says. “The times that I put myself into nature and am absorbed into it make me so aware of God’s awesome creativity. Sometimes I just have to sit on a log and look in awe at the mist rising from a stream, listening to a fish jumping and a blue heron’s wing beats. Those misty mornings are so magical.”

—Karel Bond Lucander

employed them many times in the classroom.

She extends these lessons to encompass stewardship of the envi-ronment and respect for the creatures that inhabit it. At St. John’s, her “Stream Team” aquarium classroom— taught in conjunction with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission—helps kids understand and explore the eco-system. She also coordinates special programs on conservation, recycling and environmental stewardship.

As the river of life has flowed on, this staunch environmentalist has continued to hone her fishing skills, perfecting the art of tying flies and teaching children the skill. Carol Anne uses pieces of yarn, feathers, tails of road-kill squirrels and treasures from the craft store clearance bin to

Sister Carol Anne Corley, an environmental studies teacher at St. John’s Elementary School in Hot Springs, Arkansas, comes by her pas-sion for the outdoors—and especially for fishing—honestly.

Living in St. Paul, Missouri, the Corley family escaped to the country whenever possible. Vacationing at Sam A. Baker State Park, they played in the water and at night climbed along the rocky banks with their lanterns, searching for the best catfish holes. All five kids loved exploring the out-doors, including the youngest, Carol Anne and her twin sister, Suzanne.

When she wasn’t reeling in fish, Carol Anne was swimming, playing tennis, golfing or bowling. She taught archery at a camp and played softball, basketball and volleyball in high school. In 1963, she entered the Sisters of Mercy and studied nursing, a ministry she practiced for many years before turning to teaching. Discipleship references to fishing are not lost on her, and she has

S P I C E O F M E R C Y L I F E

Wading in the Waters

Sister Carol Anne in a local Arkansas stock pond, holding her catch, a blue gill, circa 2010.

Sister Carol Anne teaches her nephew

Sam to use a spinning rod at Weatherby Lake, Missouri, in

2017.

Sister Carol Anne observes student Joy Victory fly-tying during sixth grade art class at St. John’s Elementary School, Hot Springs,

Arkansas, circa 2019.

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Calendar

Confidants by Sister Michele Aronica

Follow the Sisters of Mercy:

www.sistersofmercy.org/social

JANUARY 1World Peace Day

JANUARY 10–12Institute Chapter Coordinating Committee meetingBelmont, North CarolinaContact: Sister MaryHelen Nugent [email protected]

JANUARY 11Human Trafficking Awareness Day

JANUARY 16–19Novitiate Community DiscernmentCranaleith Spiritual CenterPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania Contact: Sister Eileen Campbell [email protected]

JANUARY 20Martin Luther King Jr. Day

JANUARY 27–30Extended Communications Team meetingBelmont, North Carolina Contact: Julie Bourbon [email protected]

JANUARY 31Dinner for Mercy college and university presidentsWashington, D.C.Contact: Moya K. Dittmeier [email protected]

FEBRUARY 1Mercy Higher Education Presidents Council annual meetingWashington, D.C.Contact: Moya K. Dittmeier [email protected]

FEBRUARY 27MESA Leadership ForumAtlanta, GeorgiaContact: Kimberly Baxter [email protected]

Documents

Mercy Investment Services: 10 Years of Values and VisionMercy Connections’ first executive director. The vision that women could be entrepreneurs has become the signature work of