Loretto Sisters Communities: Beyond the Boundaries of Our Hearts

In 1998 Loretto’s heart was enlarged as we entered into two new relationships. Our heart was broken open to the Daughters of the Most Blessed Trinity (FST) in Ghana, as they became a Sister Community to Loretto. Just a few years later the family grew to welcome the Holy Family Sisters in Guatemala  (HFS or, in Spanish, “Las Hermanas de la Sagrada Familia”), and Loretto had another new relationship with a Sister Community. The idea of a Sister Community was an opportunity to create a partnership with sisters in other communities, in other countries, to discover their mission work, to share educational endeavors and to establish friendship. By doing so, we found out about our new sisters and about ourselves. Loretto came to these relationships in humility, compassion and support.

The intent of the Sister Community relationships has always been a mutual one. The effort to work in partnerships has taught us how to contribute to a more just and compassionate world and to shift our focus toward a deeper understanding of the mission efforts the HFS and FST Sisters have been undertaking.

In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis wrote, “We need not think that our efforts are going to change the world. They benefit society, often unbeknown to us, for they call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread.”

“Loretto Life: Opening Doors” states, “Since the foundation of Loretto in 1812, we have worked to create a world which will sustain our finest hopes for justice, reconciliation and compassion. As members of the community of earth, we occupy a common space, share common resources, share in common experiences of global disasters and must learn to live together with all of creation. We are members of one another.” Our Sister Community relationships are a visible example of living out this truth.