Maryknoll Sisters

Sister Ann Corveale, M.M. from Troy, NY will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Sister Anne, a native of Troy, New York, entered Maryknoll in 1948 and, after receiving her Bachelor of Education at Maryknoll Teachers College in 1954, set out for her first mission assignment in Hawaii.  For the next seventeen years, Sister Anne devoted herself to teaching in the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.

After seven months in Supportive Services back at the Maryknoll Center, Sister Anne returned to Hawaii, where over the next few years, she earned her Practical Nursing Certificate and served as an LPN at St. Francis Hospital. Sister Anne continued this service in the continental U.S., at Bethany, before being assigned to Indonesia in 1979.

Although reassigned, however, Sister Anne was unable to set out for her new mission until two years later, due to a delayed visa. While waiting at the Center, she worked at Mariandale Public Health Services, where she continued her loving ministry of nursing to all those in need.

Finally, in 1982, Sister Anne embarked for seven years of service in Indonesia. Here she quickly immersed herself in dedicated work at a Maternal and Pediatric Health Clinic, while also reaching out to those in the surrounding area too poor to travel to the clinic themselves.

Sister Anne returned to the Maryknoll Center in 1989, where she worked for the next three years in Congregational Service in the Treasury and Mail Departments. During this time she also helped to coordinate the Sisters’ Heritage Display.

Then, after three years of mission in Bangladesh, 1944-1946, Sister was assigned from 1997-2005 as the Photo Librarian in the Center’s Communications Office. In this role, she not only offered necessary services to her fellow Sisters but also helped to provide relevant pictures and articles for use in catechetical materials for primary school students.

Today Sister Anne remains a cheerful and active member of the Maryknoll Sisters community in New York.

Sister Jacqueline Dorr, M.M. from Boston, MA will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Sister Jacqueline has a richly varied history in Maryknoll mission experience, starting in Boston Chinatown where she spent six years working with youth. She was assigned to Tanzania in 1959. She became involved in teaching and administrative work, helping to setup and establish both a girls’ middle school and a girls’ secondary (high) school.

In 1959, after Sister Jackie’s assignment to Kenya, she found herself immersed in an Education team, training nomadic leaders to work with groups to identify problems and needs. These leaders trained others so that they were able to organize their people to address and solve their problems. After moving to Nairobi, Sr. Jackie and another Maryknoll Sister, after seeing the need, founded a rehabilitation program for women ex-prisoners.

Drawing on her experience of giving workshops, seminars, retreats to various groups throughout Kenya and other African countries, Sister Jackie wrote a book, entitled “Women Seeking Justice” which is still used twenty years after publication.

Since 2005 Sister Jackie has resided in Monrovia, California at the Maryknoll house where she is active in congregational service.

Sister Mary Ann Duffy, M.M. from Philadelphia, PA will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Sister Mary Ann is a teacher and a facilitator in Latin America.

Sister Mary Ann Duffy, a Maryknoll Missioner with an almost permanent smile on her face all the time has captivated the hearts of the people she has served and worked with on the missions in Latin America where she has ministered for more than 50 years.

She entered Maryknoll in 1948 from the parish of St. Francis de Sales/Holy Innocents in Philadelphia. She earned her B.Ed. from Maryknoll Teachers College in New York and then her Master’s degree in Spanish Literature from Temple University, where she served in an Assistantship as a Spanish teacher. Sister Mary Ann also studied in the Pastoral Institute at Loyola College, Chicago. She served extensively in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico. She has been a teacher in the Yucatan, Mexico, and has done pastoral work with indigenous groups in Mexico and Guatemala. In Chiapas, Mexico, she served as the supervisor of an experimental basic education program for the Tzeltal Indians and supported a program for rural community development. She studied the Indian dialect to prepare her for pastoral work among the indigenous people.

Sister Mary Ann also worked as part of a women’s pastoral team for the San Marcos Diocese in Guatemala, with a personal focus on environmental issues.

In 2012, Sister Mary An was assigned to Panama working with indigenous peoples in Darien.

In 2016, Sister Mary Ann returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center where she remains and active volunteer.

Sister Rose Andree Krieger, M.M. from St. Louis, MO will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Before joining the Maryknoll Sisters in 1948, Sister Rose Andree had earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Harris Teachers College and worked as a teacher in St. Louis, MO. Assigned to Chile in 1951, she was one of the second group of Sisters sent there. After serving happily in parish schools for the poor for two decades, she became involved in training adults in catechetic, and found even greater happiness and a feeling that this perhaps was her forte. With a team of dedicated catechists, including many couples, they developed a real Christian community and assumed more and more responsibility in the parish.

As a veteran missioner she enjoyed a new ministry doing Mission Awareness programs in many parishes and schools in the U.S. In 1993, Sister Rose Andree retired in Waterbury, CT where she engaged in volunteer work for nine years in an Hispanic Parish doing Religious Education in public schools and visiting homes.

Currently, Sister Rose Andree resides at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in NY and continues to offer her services caring for the sick as a member of the Pastoral Care Team. Throughout her mission journey she has continued to help when and where she can, and also learn from the people she serves.

Sister Mary Grace Krieger, M.M. from St. Louis, MO will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Before joining the Maryknoll Sisters in 1948 from St. Louis, MO, Mary Grace Krieger had earned her B.A. in Education from Harris Teacher College, and taught in the St. Louis public schools. Assigned to the Philippines in 1951, she served ten years as an elementary school teacher in Manila and assistant high school principal in Jimenez.

Her talents were tapped to serve six years as assistant novice mistress in both New York and Topsfield, MA. She received her Masters degree in adult education from Boston University and lived nine years in Roxbury, MA, supervising six community organizers in school and communications programs in African-American areas of Boston.

She also worked with the federation of three parochial schools in the African-American community. These years were her “most complete immersion in another culture….and the active promotion of understanding another culture.” In 1976, she traveled to Nigeria to help Bishop Patrick Ekpu to organize a chancery office and to assist in the formation of a new Nigerian religious community.

In Dallas, TX, Sister Mary Grace was an organizational consultant at an African-American school and coordinator of an education program for the Dallas Association of Mentally Challenged Citizens.

Returning full circle to St. Louis (1980-1990), she ministered as the executive secretary and director of the Catholic Commission of the Handicapped (now the Catholic Office of Disability Ministry), educating for self-determination, inclusion. and understanding.

For five and a half years, Sister Mary Grace served as director of Maryknoll Mission Archives, which she considered a wonderful experience of collaboration.

Sister Mary Grace lived in Yonkers, NY as part of the Eastern Region.  She was active in the Maryknoll Affiliate Group and also Pax Christi.   In 2012, she was assigned to Maryknoll, New York where she continues to be active in Pax Christi and doing projects for the Congregation.

Sister Theresa Lisak, M.M. from Michigan City, IN will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Sister Theresa hails from Michigan City, IN. After two years at St. Francis College in Fort Wayne, she entered Maryknoll in 1948 and completed her B.E. at Maryknoll Teachers College.

In Chile the sisters were asked to work for the education of the very poor. The staffed Catholic schools for the poor in various dioceses and Sister Theresa taught in urban schools for her first 11 years in Chile, getting to know the families and collaborating with parish activities. In the 1960s, she left the formal classroom to live in a marginated area of Santiago working in community development with a community of four Maryknoll sisters. Justice as an integral part of evangelization was stressed and the Church defended human dignity and human life. With courses, meetings and visiting their neighbors, the sisters encouraged the people as they began to solve their own problems, and collaborated with those efforts.

In 1973, Sister Theresa was assigned to the Western US Region and taught English as a Second Language to Spanish-speaking adults in San Diego Community College. She was very active in assisting quite a number of new and old students in obtaining permanent residency under the Amnesty Program during the 1980s. She earned her M.A. in education from San Diego State University. As friendship grew with her students, she helped them with their problems regarding citizenship, employment, social security, et cetera.

Currently, Sister Theresa is part of the Chi-Ro Community at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.

Sister Laura Magallanes, M.M. from Los Angeles, CA will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Sister Laura, a native of Los Angeles, entered Maryknoll in 1948. Three years later she had completed her formation in the St. Louis Novitiate and embarked on her first mission assignment to Chile.

Since she was already fluent in Spanish, Sister Laura launched immediately into teaching second and third grade in Galvarino. During the next twenty years, Sister Laura continued her education ministry with great love and dedication in Chillan, Santiago, Curepto, and Talco. Then, in 1971, she returned to the Center for a short time in order to earn her Bachelor of Science in Adult Education at Rogers College.

Finding herself back in Chile the very next year, Sister Laura became increasingly active in pastoral work. During the 22 years that followed, Sister Laura offered devoted service through home, hospital, and clinic visits; participation in local community meetings; work in poor and marginal areas of cities; and membership on a diocesan committee supporting families whose fathers had been fired, killed, or thrown in prison.

In 1994, Sister Laura returned once more to the U.S. to continue her pastoral work for fifteen years in the Western Region. She then came home to the Center, where she today remains an active and loving member of the Chi Rho Community.

Sister Maureen Mitten, M.M. from Staten Island, NY will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Sister Maureen, also known as Moe, is fondly known by her Sisters as living fully a characteristic that Mother Mary Joseph Rogers, encouraged, a saving grace of a sense of humor. Her story of one of her students in Japan, “While I was in the States, she sent a postcard addressed to Sister Maureen, Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery, Maryknoll, NY. The student had copied the address from a postcard of the cemetery! Finally someone tracked me down among the living!”

Sister Moe came to Maryknoll from Staten Island, NY in 1948 and one time on a visit remarked, “This is where I came from—it recalls a lot of wonderful memories but Japan is definitely home now.”

On February 29, 2008, Sister Moe moved into the rectory of the Yamashina Catholic Church, a priestless parish in Kyoto. After Easter Mass, the parishioners organized a celebration to formally welcome her. The choir and Sunday school students sang; kindergarten children danced and a child presented a lovely bouquet to Sister Moe. Her activities range from Introduction to Christ classes for people preparing for Baptism; private lessons for a pregnant mother wishing to be baptized with her new baby; talks on Spirituality and Christian Values for choir members, some of whom are not Catholic but love to sing to God and Talks about God to the kindergarten children aged 3-5 years. Sister Moe also has a Bible Study Women’s Group.

Past experiences serve Sister Moe well in her new ministry. She has been involved in pastoral work in Otsu, Ueno, Hikona and Kyoto. Sister Moe completed her college studies begun at Mary Rogers College at Maryknoll, at Sophia University, Tokyo. She earned a BA in Asian Studies, and worked in the Kyoto diocesan catechetical center for three years. In Yamashina, Sister Moe also continues her professional outreach as an English teacher.

Among other talents, Sister Moe is a licensed bus driver! She has driven mini buses on occasion at Maryknoll, and in Kyoto Sister Moe is one of the drivers for the physically challenged and elderly of the Kohitsuji Kai Group with whom she works.

From 1983 to 1991, Sister Moe was full-time Executive Secretary of AMOR, an acronym for the Asian Meeting of Religious Women, a forum of women religious of Asia and Oceania. In those years AMOR represented over one hundred thousand Women Religious from seventeen nations. Its purpose is to coordinate efforts toward ongoing renewal of religious life with the vision of a world built on justice, peace and universal love. Sister Moe found the work of coordinating the communication between the women of these countries to be a wonderful challenge. Every two years Sister Moe attended an international meeting in one of the countries of the membership.

Sister Moe traveled with companions from Kyoto to Nagasaki for the November 24, 2008 Beatification ceremony of the 188 Japanese martyrs of the 17th Century. “In the procession women dressed in lovely kimonos carried urns containing soil from the respective places where the Christians were executed in various cities throughout the country. These were placed under the altar with some relics. It was very touching, and such an honor to be present.”

This Beatification ceremony was memorable for Sister Moe because of a pilgrimage she made. Every year Japanese Christians and persons of other faiths join a pilgrimage from Kyoto to Nagasaki, walking the entire six hundred miles or doing it in stages over a number of years. Starting in 1988, Sister Moe joined the pilgrimage thirty times over a four year period walking about twenty miles each time. “During my pilgrimage I felt like a farmer…dropping seeds of prayer and physical tiredness…and hoping that the seeds of the Gospel would bloom there some day.”

Sister Patricia O’Mera, M.M. from Seattle, WA will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Sister Patricia was born in Seattle. She attended Holy Names Academy and Seattle University before entering Maryknoll in 1948.

After her first vows in 1951, Sister Pat acquired her Bachelor of Education from Rogers College and was assigned one year later, to mission in Chile. In her first seven years there, Sister taught and did pastoral work.

In 1968, Sister Pat was elected as a delegate for the Maryknoll Sisters’ General Assembly, where she was part of the implementation team, which is responsible for carrying out decisions and changes. It was her responsibility to communicate pertinent information to the whole congregation.

She was assigned to the Western U.S. Region in 1974, where she served in numerous capacities. From 1977 to 1979, Sister Pat attended San Diego State University. For seven years she was an English teacher for Spanish-speaking adults. Since her retirement in 2006, Sister Pat has been a fully participating member of the Maryknoll Eden Community.

Sister Miriam Francis Perlewitz, M.M. from Valley Park, MO will be celebrating her 70th Jubilee this year.

Entering the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Valley Park, MO, in 1948 from Milwaukee, WI, Sister Miriam Francis made her First Profession of Vows in 1951. She received a B.E. from Maryknoll Teachers College in 1954. Sister Miriam Francis taught Art at the college and then served as an Assistant Novice Mistress and Liturgical Music Director until her assignment to Hong Kong in 1958.

After teaching Music and Biblical Knowledge two years at Maryknoll Convent School, Sister Miriam Francis was assigned to the Philippines to be Assistant Novice Mistress at the Novitiate in Quezon City where women from Asia entered the Maryknoll Sisters. In 1967, Sister Miriam Francis returned to the U.S. for studies, earning her M.A. in Biblical Literature and her Ph.D. with a Major in Biblical Languages and Literature at St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO.

In 1978, Sister Miriam Francis was Co-Director of the Mission Renewal Program to respond to the spiritual, personal and professional needs of returning missioners. She was a Faculty Member of the Maryknoll School of Theology from 1979 to 1991, and it was in her sabbatical year in 1985 that Sister Miriam Francis began teaching Scripture at the National Major Seminary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, rotating six months at the Maryknoll School of Theology and six months in Bangladesh.

In 1992, Sister Miriam Francis was assigned full time to Bangladesh, where she continues to teach at the National Seminary.

However, that same year Sister Miriam Francis also worked with another Maryknoll Sister to offer an environment where women of all religious beliefs afflicted with drug addiction problems could begin a recovery process. Of this experience, she said,  “Many of the women on drugs were beset by poverty, but some were also college graduates, frustrated because they could not obtain positions in professions and businesses in a male-dominated culture.”

After several years, the Sisters changed gears from rehabilitation to prevention through education.

In 1996 they opened the BACHA Education for Life Center in Dhaka which aims to counter drug-addiction with an innovative curriculum of human values, training young women and men as facilitators to do this in secondary schools in several dioceses. BACHA’s training course shows how human values are reinforced by the basic teachings of the great world religions because the majority of students and teachers are Muslim, with a minority of Hindus and Christians. The course given once weekly over three years enables youth to cope with life’s challenges without turning to drugs. This course has expanded to colleges, Sister formation houses and seminaries. A couple of government schools also use the program. BACHA is a Bengali word meaning “to live again,” or “to rise up.”

BACHA is also an English acronym for Bangladesh Alternative Course for Human Advancement. In order to make this successful program self-supporting, in 2001 the two Sisters opened the primary BACHA English Medium School, including nursery and kindergarten, in a lower middle income residential area. Their hopes are that the income will financially support the values education program while incorporating values education at the early stages of development.