By Jeannine Gramick
Interchange Online

June 6, 2013 was the 20th anniversary of Ann Manganaro’s untimely death at 46 from cancer.

Ann was a Sister of Loretto, co-founder of Karen Catholic Worker House in St. Louis, and a physician who dedicated her life to the poor in El Salvador.

Even though I never met her, I have heard many people speak lovingly about Ann. I first heard about her from my friend Cathy Arata, SSND, who worked with her in El Salvador during that country’s violent civil war. I came in touch with Ann more recently when I went to San Salvador in March to be part of El Salvador’s first national conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights at the Jesuit University of Central America [UCA]. In between sessions, I visited with Fr. Manuel Acosta, who teaches at the UCA. He shared warm memories of Ann who was “committed” and “strong,” a true “companion and fellow sufferer” with the people of El Salvador. He knew no one who did not have the deepest love and respect for her. At the UCA, I serendipitously met Marilyn Lorenz and a delegation of Nerinx students who were meeting up with a film crew documenting Ann’s life.

My introduction to others was facilitated by Gene Palumbo, a freelance journalist who came from the U.S. in the 1980s to cover the civil war. Gene, like so many others, was eager to share stories about Ann to keep her memory alive. Gene offered to take me and Frank DeBernardo, the Executive Director of New Ways Ministry, who was with me at the conference, to the rural community where Ann spent her final years.

Before we left San Salvador, we met with Dagoberto Menjivar who like Fr. Acosta, was trained by Ann as a health promoter and worked with her in Chalatenango. Ann encouraged him to study medicine but he objected, saying he was too old. Not leaving it at that, Ann countered that she started medical school in her 30s. So in 1994 at age 23, Dago enrolled in the medical school of the National University. Dr. Dagoberto Menjivar is now the director of the clinic Ann founded.

We left Dagoberto and traveled for several hours in Gene’s 1979 jeep. The passenger side door did not open from the outside and, of course, there was no air conditioning. Now this felt like the warm and cozy El Salvador Ann loved!

Our first stop was at the modest home of retired Bishop Eduardo Alas Alfaro, who was the Bishop in Chalatenango while Ann lived there. “When I think of Ann,” he said, “I think of an angel passing through our lives… She served the people and gave us hope. That’s who she was.”

We continued to Guarjila and up to the Clinica Ana Manganero, which is much bigger than when Ann founded it. When the clinic staff negotiated with the government for a grant to expand, the team insisted that the clinic continue to bear Ann’s name.

I met Marlene Cruz, a clinic nurse trained by Ann. Half of the health workers Ann trained continue to staff the clinic today. Marlene told the story of Ann’s arrival in 1987.

There were “no doctors, no nurses, no health workers, no houses, no roads, no water.” Ann worked tirelessly in and around Guarjila and once a month would visit the surrounding communities in the midst of the bombings. Because of Ann’s training of midwives and health promoters, there have been no infant mortalities in Guarjila to this day, Marlene said.

The clinic celebrated the 20th anniversary of Ann’s death on June 6, 2013. Three of Ann’s sisters came for the celebration. Marlene had met Ann’s family in the U.S. in 1997 and was struck by the fact that Ann had grown up in comfortable circumstances but opted to live with El Salvador’s poor. “She made a big impact on me,” Marlene said, “because she gave herself to people who had nothing.” Marlene turned to a picture of Ann on the clinic wall. The picture was framed with the words, “Because love is stronger than death, Sister Ann lives in us.”

Ann Manganaro, you live in Loretto and in everyone whose lives you touched. I am blessed to know you.

 

Photo credits: All photos were taken by Francis DeBernardo

Interchange Online

Five Loretto co-members celebrated 25 years of membership this spring: Catherine Bevanda, Theresa Kubasak, Barb Mecker, Bill Roat and Michele Stimac. Enjoy these brief remembrances of five remarkable members of the Loretto family.

Loretto Recognizes Catherine Bevanda’s Silver Jubilee
By Anna Koop

Catherine Bevanda — creative, whimsical and with a great spirit of generosity. Those are only a few of many words that would describe our friend, Catherine, who came to Loretto as a co-member 25 years ago.

Catherine hails from California and returned there following some years in Denver where she began Sacred Heart Home. She created this shelter for women and children with her own resources and later turned it over to the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kan., to operate. Catherine’s creative nature found life as a member of a Peace Theater that for many years served to raise consciousness about peace and justice issues in the Denver area. When Catherine returned to California she pursued her passion to tap dance and joined a group of people who tap danced across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Recently Catherine sent a lovely bouquet cake to Mary Ann Cunningham for her birthday. One never knows when her whimsical nature will send some celebration your way.

Catherine’s compassion is manifested in many ways. For years she has been a presence to the elderly community in and around Dillon Beach, Calif., where she resides in a home overlooking the ocean. She often has extended hospitality to Loretto Community members there. Many friends know they can depend on her for a ride to the doctor or assistance with some shopping need.

We are truly blessed by Catherine’s presence to and among us these 25 years. We cherish her full living of the present moment.

Theresa Kubasak Celebrates 25 Years of Co-Membership
By Anna Koop

Theresa Kubasak, born and raised in California, came to Loretto through relationships with some of us in Denver and Fredrick, Colo., where Theresa and her family worshipped at a church animated by a team of Loretto folks — Liz Dyer, Leonard and Peter Urban and Kathy Santopietro Weddel.

I came to know Theresa through the help she gave me in planning and putting on several weekends called “Women of Faith – Agents of Change” for Loretto outreach. Those weekends were taking place around the time that Theresa and her husband Gabe were traveling to Iraq and then moved to Syria. Theresa was one of the presenters at the weekends, and it was always a delight to experience her very creative ways of telling her story with song, poetry, etc. Theresa has developed amazing skills as she has taught people from preschool through college ages. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she approaches everyone as an immediate friend and one worthy of her respect and attention.

One Christmas, Theresa, Gabe and her son, Thomas, came to be with us at the Catholic Worker. Theresa was a little Mother Christmas spirit who brought great joy to the household.

Theresa and Gabe created the Iraqi Student Project. During the past six years they had placed 62 students in more than 30 U.S. colleges and universities that granted these young Iraqis full scholarships. The students are expected to return to Iraq to help rebuild the country.

Community Group 21 celebrated Theresa’s Jubilee with a double-lemon cake frosted with whipped cream and lemon pudding.

Barb Mecker Celebrates a Circle of Life
By Martha Alderson

For Barb Mecker’s Silver Jubilee celebration, she planned a service that symbolized her experience with Loretto and her family. The table in the center of the room featured a photograph of her large family and one of her Loretto family — the official photo from the 200th Jubilee. Also there was a circle cake made by daughter Annie.

Barb’s husband Brian Hammond was the emcee for the afternoon and introduced 17 members of their family who attended. The family included four young children who were very much at ease with Loretto, which as daughter Michelle said were also their family.

The ceremony included the opening song, “Circle” by Harry Chapin, and the closing song, “Circle of Life” by Elton John and Tim Rice. Between, there was “A Litany of the Circle” inspired by Chief Seattle, “Again, again …” by Wendell Berry, and a reading adapted from Loretto Life on community and friendship with the frequent sung response of the traditional “We give you glory, thanks and praise. O bless our works and guide our ways.” About 50 people celebrated with Barb, and many offered thanks and comments about Barb’s life with Loretto. The program copy included photos of the Motherhouse, Barb in her habit, Barb and Brian cutting their wedding cake and their family. Truly a circle of life!

After the ceremony, the group enjoyed a delicious light supper — and, of course, Annie’s Oreo cake.

Congratulations and thank you to Barb.

Michele Stimac and Bill Roat Co-Members for 25 Years
By Evelyn Houlihan

Happy 25th anniversary to Bill Roat and Michele Stimac! While living in California, they were encouraged to go to the great Loretto gathering in Estes Park, Colo., with former members. They rekindled connections and thus began the co-membership process. Bill left Hughes Aircraft and Michele slowly withdrew from Pepperdine University to begin the re-entry to Colorado. They sought out housing near the Loretto Center and officially returned to Colorado in 1997.

They are a constant in Loretto Center life by attending gatherings, celebrations, meetings, Mass and movies. Though highly individualistic, they make a great team. Michele is always on the move, visiting with everyone she meets, often interjecting her native Croatian language. Bill stays put, smiles a lot and ponders with us the latest cosmos theory before he keeps us light- hearted with a joke. They never seem to lose their love for learning and generously share their knowledge.

As we walk the Loretto road together, Bill and Michele remind us that we are all a “spice” in someone’s lives. We celebrate Bill and Michele’s lives as gifts (spice) to the Loretto Community.

By Vivian Doremus
Interchange Online

May 4, 2013: Loretto at the UN representative Sally Dunne invited local Loretto community members to attend a luncheon, award presentation and address by Simone Campbell on May 4 in New York City. Held in the Church Center for the United Nations (site of the Loretto NGO office), the event was an opportunity for attendees to meet and talk with Simone. About 65 people gathered in a small conference room so we all had “front row” seats for the address.

Simone Campbell, SSS, described the next big initiative that she is organizing: Nuns on the Bus for the Reform of Immigration Law. The tour will begin on May 28th, leaving from New Haven, CT and wend its way to San Francisco. Simone has sent a letter to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), inviting them to stand with the bus riders as they come through their dioceses and hopes this will be an outreach gesture that is well received.

As she began her remarks on the searing disparities between wealth and poverty, and the many social injustices that confront us, Simone alluded to a quote from Walter Bruegemann, in which he stated that we need not experience all the pain of the world, but if we lean forward to touch it, it will crack open and break our hearts. From this flows hope that will be healing. Interspersing her remarks with her poems, Simone drew upon her vast travels. She reported a visit to Beirut where the group was shown a prison in which undocumented immigrants were being held while awaiting deportation. Men were separated from women, and the prisoners were held in “cages” – barred pens, designed for about 20-40 persons, crammed with more than 60. Nearly impossible to describe, or imagine, the prison was built underground, allowing no natural light to penetrate. It is located under a major highway of the city, and the air vents for the prison come up in the median strip of the highway, filling the prison with the exhaust fumes of the heavy traffic.

Noting that there are no travel barriers to capital – it is allowed free range all over the world for profit, Simone related that human migration is subject to severe limitations. Persons who leave home, seeking to alleviate the poverty of their families, or fleeing cruelty and violence, need international protection and just legislation.

Simone also shared some history of her community, the Sisters of Social Services, founded in Hungary in 1923. Its early members were lawyers, doctors, social workers, nurses who ministered to human needs and advocated for the poor. Two branches of the community left Hungary, one establishing itself in California and the other in Canada. The American members engage in direct ministry as well as matters of public policy and advocacy. I had the chance to talk with Simone after the meeting and discovered that her mother was a graduate of Loretto Heights College, and her sister Katie attended the Heights in the late 60s.

The Loretto Community’s Latin America/Caribbean Committee urges Loretto members and friends to take action today to call for comprehensive immigration reform.

Soon, the Senate Judiciary will begin hearing amendments to the Immigration Bill put forth by the bipartisan group of Senators known as the “Gang of Eight.” It is important for Community members to join with other faith and humanitarian advocates in support of compassionate reform.

Call any member of the Senate: the “Gang of Eight”, Members of the Subcommittee on Immigration, or Senators from your state. Identify yourself as a member or friend of the Loretto Community and encourage him/her to support comprehensive immigration reform that:
• Will begin immediately without being contingent on Border security
• Will include a path to citizenship in ten years or less for undocumented immigrants
• Will include a fair accessible pathway without excessive fines
• Will include justice for workers especially farm workers
• Will put family unification at the center of the legislation

Congressional Contact Information

Previous Loretto action on this issue here.

Interchange Online

Loretto members around the world celebrated the beginning of our 201st year as a religious community. In Denver and St. Louis, members gathered for services to mark the occasion – and below are a few memories from those celebrations.

St. Louis

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Denver

by Mary Ann McGivern
Interchange Online

Cecily Jones SL has written poetry all her life. She taught English for many years. Then as communications director she edited and published Interchange, the Loretto newsletter for another 16 years. Then she worked in a parish. Today she lives at Loretto Motherhouse where she continues to write poetry.

Loretto enters our third century with Mostly by Promise by Cecily Jones under our arm. The book is a gift to community members to mark then end of our jubilee year and the beginning of our third century as a community of love and service.

Cecily’s poems catch Loretto members, our experience of friendship, our work and the Loretto countryside within Cecily’s larger and more personal perspective. Her dedication reads: “In memory of Mary Louise Beutner and Jean Carmel Cavanaugh, who taught me about writing; and Mariella Collins, Sara Frink, Mary Luke Tobin, and Helen Sanders, who taught me about service and fidelity.” It is a grand gift to Loretto in celebration of Founder’s Day.

As Cecily says in her introduction, her poetry has grown from her experiences and she invites us to experience each poem. Below is one poem from the collection. Continue reading →

U.S. News and World Report recently released its 2013 Best Nursing Homes report, based on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Nursing Home Compare. Nazareth Hall, El Paso, Texas – a facility co-sponsored by the Loretto Community and and the Daughters of Charity – was one of three Ascension Health facilities that received “Five Stars.” That designation is the highest ranking and is based on results of health inspections, nurse staffing and quality metrics.

Congratulations to administrator Joy Martinez and her staff!

By Paige R. Regan (Co-Member in Process)
Interchange Online

Paige Regan is working this year at Blessed Trinity Leadership Academy – a school in Ghana run by Loretto’s sister community, the Daughters of the Most Blessed Trinity. Paige attended St. Mary’s Academy, a Loretto high school in Denver, and now is in the process of becoming a Loretto co-member. She will be attending Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development in the fall where she will earn her M.Ed. in learning, diversity and urban studies. For additional photos and information, visit her blog.

“[S]he who loses [her] life for my sake will find it.” – Matthew 10:39

To intimate that I volunteered to spend the school year teaching in Ghana for religious reasons or to fulfill Christ’s mission might seem noble, but I would be lying. The main impetus for my decision was service in the name of education on a global scale, residing with nuns was only a part of the process. Be that as it may, I start this article with the words of Jesus because in spite of the fairly secular mentality I have upheld throughout my assignment, my experience in Africa has unveiled the nondenominational, spiritual truth behind Christ’s message.

While teaching at Blessed Trinity Leadership Academy (BTLA) I have indeed lost a part of myself to my work, and while I did not lose myself initially for the sake of Jesus, my subsequent new sense of self and newly found passions have been borne out of love and furthermore, in essence, I did. In fact, in spite of my own belief systems, the fervent religion surrounding me in Ghana has bolstered my faith in the benevolence of humanity as a whole. This is not on behalf of dogma, but in part to the general sense of community and humility I have seen such religion afford. Ghana has shown me that indeed religion does not have to get in the way of spirituality, and that while religion may lead a person to Jesus, it is a love for others and of life in itself that makes the revelation worthwhile. Continue reading →

Ann Patrick Ware SL passed away on February 23, 2013. Below is a remembrance of her life by Loretto member Martha Alderson CoL.

Ann Pat’s Version of Ecclesiastes

There is a season for everything,
a time for every occupation under the sun:

A time for lolling around eating chocolates and reading trashy novels;
a time for getting off one’s duff and doing a worthwhile thing.

A time for learning one’s tradition, loving it, and knowing it through and through;
a time for saying: Enough! We can do better than that.”

A time for seizing every opportunity;
a time for saying, ” I’m tired. Let someone else take over.”

A time for cherishing friends face to face exploring their minds and heart,
relishing their company;
a time for storing friendships in memory and moving to a place where
absence will make the heart grow fonder.

A time for dancing;
a time for limping.

A time for loving;
a time for leaving.

A time for holding loved ones in my hands;
a time for gently placing loved ones in God’s hands.

Continue reading →