Catholic Sisters Week is observed March 8-14, this year with the theme "Hope & Heart." (Courtesy of Communicators for Women Religious)
Catholic Sisters Week, an annual campaign to bring greater visibility to U.S. sisters, will again be focused on the theme of #LikeaCatholicSister, but instead of the action-oriented messages of last year, it will center on the stories of sisters' work.
Catholic Sisters Week, now in its 13th iteration, is overseen by Communicators for Women Religious, an organization of sisters and laypeople who work in communications for sister congregations. It runs March 8-14 every year, starting on International Women's Day.
The messages for this year's observance fall under the theme of "Hope & Heart," and include topics such as "Community & Connection" and "Prayer & Spirit."
"Last year we focused on bold, action things like 'Fighting for the Forgotten,' " said Mikaela VanMoorleghem, president of the CWR steering committee and director of communications for the Notre Dame Sisters in Omaha, Nebraska. "Instead, this year we're inviting congregations to share the moments that reveal who Catholic sisters are."
While those moments and stories will be collected on the Catholic Sisters Week website's Padlet — a sort of shared digital bulletin board — one could also find stories by searching the #LikeaCatholicSister hashtag on social media. The Padlet itself can also be embedded on congregational websites, she said.
Before last year, Catholic Sisters Week focused on events being held by sisters to draw attention to their work and legacy; now it is centered on telling the stories of their work and legacy.
One event that is being held to commemorate the week, however, is a documentary screening held by the Louisville Ursulines:"In the Company of Change," which is both a tribute to Sr. Martha Buser and and exploration of the societal and ecclesial shifts that reshaped Catholic religious life in America over the past 75 years. The documentary is a follow-up to filmmaker Morgan Atkinson's 1987 documentary on Buser and the changes the sisters experienced after Vatican II, "A Change in Order."
VanMoorleghem said the stories of Catholic sisters are so powerful and important, they need to be shared not just because they need to be preserved and remembered, but because the world needs them right now.
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One example is a story by Notre Dame Sr. Celeste Wobeter, who wrote about looking back on difficult times in her life and remembering "an emptiness, a fear of terrible consequences. Wondering what to do."
But also trusting and hoping.
"Eventually a sense of peace and healing would seep into my life," Wobeter wrote. "A sense of freedom and amazement that the situation was indeed a gift, unwanted, but a gift that strengthened my hope and trust in God and others. As I look back I see each struggle in life taught me something new. I began to be grateful for the struggle. (But I added, 'Please, no more!')"
VanMoorleghem said sisters and their work are a gift to the world — one part of the introductory video notes that sisters' service "is love made visible" — that is more needed than ever.
"The goal is that we lift these voices up so they can inspire us to love more boldly, listen more closely, and carry hope forward," she said. "We want to tell their stories and uplift their ministries and congregations, and invite the public to learn about these incredible women."
