Loretto in South America: Bienvenidos, mis amigos!

Bienvenidos mis amigos! Yes, welcome my friends! That was the greeting the Sisters of Loretto received when they arrived in La Paz, Bolivia, in 1961 and the greeting when they left was a heartfelt “Los queremos y les dames las gracias.” A message of love and thanks.

Sisters of Loretto answered the Church’s call and President Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress invitation in 1961 to establish missions in South America. They went to Bolivia to begin a school; to Tacna, Peru, to begin teaching literacy lessons to indigenous women; and to Santiago, Chile, to open a catechetical center and community-based schools.

The above barely touches the work so many of our Sisters and Co-members did in South America. Climbing to the Altiplano, singing with a choir in Chile, working with the parents of children in Loretto schools: The Sisters say that the gifts they received touched their life forever. Loretto thanks God for these Community members.