SISTERS OF CHARITY-HALIFAX NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM
Sisters of Charity-Halifax have installed a new Leadership Team, on September 27, 2014. At its 20th General Chapter in July, close to 200 delegates from across Canada, eastern United States, Bermuda and Peru met in Halifax to decide on future directions and choose a new leadership team. See bios below.
The directional statement developed to guide the Congregation for the coming years reads, in part: ” … we accept our call to an all-embracing spirit of hospitality in our relationships with one another; with all our sisters and brothers and with all creation. We choose to do this in a spirit of caring collaboration with others, especially with the Vincentian Family.”
The particular emphasis on hospitality comes at a time when the world recognizes the need for people to move from a world view that feeds on self interest, exclusion and apathy to one that is compassionate, inclusive and hopeful. Sisters and their Associates join with others who share the Vincentian spirituality of practical love and of reaching out to those on the margins.
A six-member Congregational Leadership Team was elected for 2014-2020. Sisters assumed their new roles following their Installation on September 27:
Sisters of Charity-Halifax Congregational Leadership Team, 2014-2020. Left to right: Sisters Roberta Kerins, Cecilia Hudec, Mary Katherine Hamm, Joan O’Keefe (Congregational Leader), Maryanne Ruzzo, Kathleen Crowley.
Sister Joan O’Keefe will be based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Sisters
Kathleen Crowley and Maryanne Ruzzo currently live in Massachusetts;
Sisters Mary Katherine Hamm and Roberta Kerins live in New York; and
Sister Cecilia Hudec lives in Richmond, British Columbia.
Originally from Boston, MA, SISTER JOAN O’KEEFE has lived in Nova Scotia since she first entered the Congregation. She taught school in Shad Bay, Herring Cove, Westphal and Hebbville; then moved into parish work in Bridgewater, Liverpool and Bedford. Sister Joan was co-ordinator of the Single Parent Centre (now Chebucto Family Centre) in Spryfield from 1989 to 2002. She served on the Congregational Leadership Team 2002-08, and has been a volunteer doula since then.
SISTER KATHLEEN CROWLEY currently lives in Needham, MA, close to her home town of Dorchester. She taught elementary and high school before moving into campus ministry in Vancouver, BC and Salem, MA. She was Archdiocesan Director of Campus Ministry for five years. Sister Kathleen served as a Pastoral Associate in Lynn, MA and then as one of the Community Leaders at the Congregation’s retirement residence in Wellesley Hills, MA from 2007 to 2012.
Born in Gardiner, ME, SISTER MARY KATHERINE (KATI) HAMM has lived in New York for most of her life. After teaching math and science for many years, Sister Kati served as Catechetical Co-ordinator in Newark, Brooklyn and Rockville Center. She served on the Congregational Leadership Team 2002-2008. She’s directed volunteer programs for the Sisters of Charity-New York; was Director of Peace, Justice and Ecological Integrity for the SC-NY and Sisters of Saint Elizabeth, NJ. Most recently, Sister Kati has been Co-ordinator of Education with LifeWay Network, which serves victims of human trafficking by providing safe housing and raising public awareness.
SISTER CECILIA HUDEC grew up in Picardville, AB. She started her career as an elementary school teacher in Vancouver, BC, then serve in pastoral ministry in Peru for a number of years. Sister Cecilia was a Provincial Superior for the Congregation 1990-96. Since then, she has focused on educational workshops on earth literacy and ecological spirituality. Sister Cecilia lives in Richmond, BC.
SISTER ROBERTA KERINS is starting a second term on the Congregational Leadership Team. Prior to that, she was a teacher and religious education co-ordinator in a number of New York parishes, and a religious education director in Bermuda. She was an administrator at Washington Theological Union and Associate Director of Formation/Pastoral Education at St. Paul College, both in Washington, DC; and Pastoral Associate in Landover Hills, MA. Originally from North Andover, MA, Sister Roberta currently lives in New York.
SISTER MARYANNE RUZZO has lived most of her life in Dorchester, MA and currently lives in Quincy, MA. She was an advocate and then emergency shelter day supervisor at Pine Street Inn, a women’s shelter, for a number of years. Sister Maryanne has been a Chaplain at Boston Medical Center for the past nine years, and has served as the Congregation’s Vocation Awareness/Charism Promotion Co-ordinator, since 2002. She was a founding member of both Elizabeth Seton Academy, Dorchester, and the House of Charity in New Orleans, an initiative of the Sisters of Charity Federation.
Congratulations to all of the Sisters who have accepted their role as Congregational Team Leaders. Also a very big Thank You goes out to all the Sisters of Charity, especially those who have served so faithfully in the Halifax-Yarmouth Archdiocese. We have been so blessed to have the presence of the “sisters” in our area. May god’s blessings be with you always!