Local Holy Cross sisters are elected to leadership positions in their religious order

Friday, Dec. 05, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — Holy Cross Sisters Suzanne Brennan and Karla McKinnie have been elected to leadership positions in the Sisters of the Holy Cross Congregation for the next five years. 

Sr. Suzanne resigned in May as the executive director of Holy Cross Ministries, based in Salt Lake City; Sr. Karla is director of the Special Needs program for Utah Catholic Schools. They returned last week from Indiana, where they received training.

Holy Cross has sisters in Asia, Africa, South America, North America and Mexico.

“Leadership in our congregation is a service to Holy Cross and to the Church,” said the local Holy Cross Sisters in a statement.  “We are grateful for Sr. Suzanne, who is willing to accept this position for around the world and Sister Karla, who will serve in North America. It is a sacrifice on their part and we are blessed that they have been elected.” 

The Sisters of the Holy Cross came to Utah in 1879 to open a hospital and school in Silver Reef. Holy Cross Ministries, created in 1994, continues the tradition of service by assisting individuals and families; its services include advocacy, counseling, education, immigration legal services and outreach programs.  

Sr. Suzanne became the executive director of Holy Cross Ministries in 1994. As the order’s general treasurer, she will handle financial and legal issues for each country the sisters are in; each country has its own legal system and its own currency.

“There are a lot of responsibilities as general treasurer, and some countries are more complex than others; Brazil and Peru are very complex,” she said. “There are five on the leadership team and we will work with the extended leadership team, which are the area councilors from the United States and all over the world. There were a number of things that we set out to accomplish in our direction statement: dealing with the violence in the world from cruelty to people to anti-trafficking, helping victims of hunger, and helping people learn how to allocate resources. A lot of our sisters from the other countries are being educated so they can educate others in their countries.” 

Sr. Suzanne is learning a lot about different cultures, how to be supportive and how to best serve others so they can accomplish their missions, she said. 

Sr. Karla has been nominated to be one of four area councilors on the North America extended leadership team, which also includes Mexico and the Angela Area for retired sisters. Sr. Karla’s tasks will include being the contact person for the onsite houses in which the sisters live in each area, and addressing issues or problems. 

“I will be the contact person in helping the sisters grow spiritually, as a catalyst for ongoing education, and retreats as well as carrying out other directives,” Sr. Karla said.

Normally, because of her new job, Sr. Karla would move back the order’s motherhouse in Indiana, but it has been arranged so that she will stay in Salt Lake City and maintain her position with the Utah Catholic Schools, which she has held since 2012. 

To accommodate her new post, “I will cut back on my position here to maintain my job as councilor to attend meetings, have contact calls, and an assignment on a community-sponsored board, she said. “With technology the way it is, email, voice mail and online files, I will be able to maintain both positions.”