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August 14, 2010 I am eager to promote “Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America,” an exhibit that chronicles the contributions of religious communities to life in the U.S. for almost 300 years. This masterful work will be displayed on Ellis Island from Sept. 22, until Jan. 22, 2011. Sponsored by the History Committee of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, chaired by Sister Helen Maher Garvey, B.V.M., the show reveals the courage, trials and triumphs of Catholic sisters who have traversed the length and breadth of our country since the French Ursulines brought Catholicism and compassion to the settlers of New Orleans in 1727. They learned to adapt themselves to an unfamiliar land beset with tribulations, wars and natural disasters, as did the many who followed them. An entry in “Woman & Spirit” exhibit says: “After watching her friend poet Emma Lazarus, die from cancer, Rose Hawthorne Lathrop (1851-1926) dedicated herself to the care of poor, terminally ill patients. She founded the Dominican Sisters, Servants for relief of incurable cancer.” That snippet only hints at the underlying need for such a ministry. During the last part of the 19th century, cancer was believed to be contagious and those who suffered from it were stigmatized and often shunned. Emma Lazarus was well cared for; however, Rose Hawthorne, the daughter of the famous American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, observed that many others were not. She opened her home to indigent cancer victims. Alice Huber volunteered to help. Soon the pair gave not only their fortunes, but their lives to this effort. In 1899 they opened St. Rose’s Home for Incurable Cancer. The following year they founded the religious community whose ministry was governed by three rules: the sisters were never to show revulsion for those disfigured by the disease, no money could be accepted by patients or their families, and no patient could be used as a guinea pig for medical research. The exhibit is replete with examples of dedicated service to victims of poverty, oppression and exclusion. Not all the stories in the exhibit are of tragedies. They also reveal triumphs, discoveries, openness to contemporary needs and determination to be faithful to God’s call, despite the forces that would try to deter or destroy them. “Women & Spirit” pays tribute to history of Catholic sisters and explains the power of the conviction that continues to fuel their commitment in this 21st century. Sister Camille is a member of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, a past president of the LCWR, professor emerita from Brooklyn College and senior religion commentator for 1010 WINS Radio. |