Diocesan Administrator Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald gave the following homily at the opening Mass of the Holy Cross Sister’s Convention Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, 2006, at the Embassy Suites Hotel. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is planning an exhibit titled "Pioneers, Poets, and Prophets" to tell the story of the impact more than 220,000 women religious have had on America since the first religious women arrived some 280 years ago, in 1727. The purpose of the exhibit is to tell an often forgotten story of the brave missionaries who helped shape the United States, the sisters who have been leaders in the Women’s Rights Movement, and their advocacy for the poor. A while back I read a book titled "Double Crossed," which tells one author’s version of the poor treatment religious women have received within the church. I have often felt that the evangelizing impact of religious women in our church has never been adequately addressed. In more recent years their role in the formation of laity to assume leadership within our church helped prepare us for the ramifications of Vatican II. In this diocese it has been the Holy Cross Sisters, with their 131 years of service, who have had the most significant impact. I was asked to share some reflections on the impact of the Congregation of the Holy Cross here. An adequate presentation could fill an encyclopedia. Presence is the most significant impact any of us can have as it is through presence that we evangelize. From their arrival in 1875, the sisters made the church present throughout the scattered Mormon communities of this territory. To get some idea of the Holy Cross presence, I made a quick review of our archives. Our records give the names of 1,374 different Holy Cross Sisters who have served in this diocese over the past 130 years. I have known 144 of those, some 10 percent. Over 100 of those sisters were missioned here for a second or third time. Forty-eight young women entered Holy Cross from here, of whom I have known half. For 92 sisters, Utah’s Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery was their last assignment. (Only 44 priests and bishops are buried there.) Imagine the various personalities who followed the first two religious, Sisters Augusta Anderson and Raymond Sullivan. It is hard to envision how they lived together in small, humble dwellings, with no modern conveniences and endured the hot summers in the old habits. To have seen the Sisters in the market places or climbing off the stagecoach or a horse must have been a curiosity to the Mormons. Father Lawrence Scanlan, later the first bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, had requested funds from the Propagation of the Faith in Rome to purchase a residence where the priests of the area could live. He gave the funds instead to the Sisters. When questioned by Rome, he responded that a residence was needed "for the health of the priests; yet seeing the vast amount of good the Sisters have done and are engaged in doing, and knowing that they are heavily in debt, upon which they are paying a high rate of interest – I have concluded to give them the amount of money appropriated and recommend the pastoral residence to a kind of Providence and your future generosity." Five years later the bishop reported to Rome that "Six years ago, there was no Sister here; now there are over 40, and still they come. (These Sisters) have done more to remove prejudice and give tone and prominence to our case than we priests could have done in many years of hard work." Isn’t that a tribute? Indeed, the Sisters had a tremendous impact. They were marvelous administrators, building institutions like Sacred Heart Academy in Ogden, Saint Mary of the Wasatch, Holy Cross Hospital, the Moreau School of Nursing here in Salt Lake City. They were exemplary educators and nurses, bringing professional skill as well as the great tradition of our Catholic faith. They have been recognized for setting the standards for quality education and health care within the state. These Sisters formed thousands of teachers, nurses, and staff of their institutions to carry on the Catholic mission. Response to local needs has been another hallmark of the Holy Cross Congregation. Wherever they were needed, the Sisters went. In each area they taught catechism to public school children while operating the schools. They visited homes, cared for the sick, and were the backbone of parishes. This response has continued to the present day. Holy Cross Sisters helped establish the schools at the Skaggs Catholic Center in Draper, have continued outreach to the poor with Holy Cross Ministries and helped meet mission challenges in southern Utah. Holy Cross Sisters ministered at Newman Centers, such as Sister Leonella Moe, and at Catholic Community Services, such as Sisters Margo Cain and Miriam Joanne Frankenfield. Several served in the Diocesan Schools’ Office, such as Sisters Joan Allem, Joseph Cecile Voelker, and now Sisters Catherine Kamphaus and Sister Genevra Rolf. Since their arrival, 287 Holy Cross Sisters served in Northern Utah. In the mining towns of Central Utah, 10 Sisters have served. In Salt Lake City 937 Holy Cross Sisters have served in schools. In health care, there were 282 Sisters serving at Holy Cross Hospital, the School of Nursing, at Jordan Valley Hospital, and in the clinics for the poor. I remember so well Sister Ann Josephine, who gave me her silver heart, Sister Joann Upjohn, Sisters Carolita and Raphael, to name a few of the past. Their care for the poor was legendary. The sisters provided health care for the priests and religious of other communities until we were covered by health insurance. For years the Sisters provided for the unwed mothers and their newborn babies before adoption. Their more recent care for patients with AIDS was characteristic of the Holy Cross Congregation. There was St. Ann Orphanage. Some might recall Sister Alice Dorothea, who returned there three times. During its 62 years, 109 Sisters cared for and educated the orphans. In every convent the priests of the area were welcome. That was an apostolate in itself that saved many a priest’s vocation and is a gift greatly missing in our diocese with the diminishing number of Sisters. My personal experience of Holy Cross Sisters goes a long way back. From the time I was in the first grade, my mother took me for catechism at the old Judge Convent. When I was old enough to take the bus alone, I entered fourth grade in the old red building and met our teacher, Sister Oswin Donelly. There were 54 of us in the long, narrow classroom all day long. Now and again she would bring cookies baked by German lay Sister Cloephas Schutz to bribe us. The tense time would be the visits of Sister Hildegardis, Supervisor of Schools. It seemed I would always be called to the board to do multiplication tables and cast out nines. When I was not accurate, I would get whacked on the wrists with the ruler for disgracing Sister Oswin before the supervisor. I never had a lay teacher during my nine years at Judge Memorial. I had remarkable teachers: Sister Franzita Kane, Sister Judith Therese, Sister Miriam Rose, Sister Theresa Clare, Sister Claire Antoine, Sister Archangel, Sister Jose Maria, Sister Eva Marie, and her sister, Leo Anthony, to name a few. Since I worked in the convent each Saturday for book money and a grand lunch, I witnessed many a fight, but more laughter, sacrifices, and charity. Another of Bishop Scanlan’s reports to the Propagation of the Faith in 1875 sums up so well the impact of Holy Cross in Utah: "The Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Cross from St. Mary’s, South Bend, Ind., arrived on the sixth of last June. The outlook was then cold and gloomy, but they were not discouraged. They... came prepared to encounter, and if possible surmount, every obstacle: and hence, without losing a moment brooding over the hardships and crosses and suffering that stared them in the face, they at once set themselves to the unpleasant work of collecting funds wherewith to make a commencement." Fifty years later, at the Wasatch, Sister Mary Madeleva, the first president of the college, would write: "We had often been cold, sometimes hungry. Coyotes had cried under our windows at night. Water shortages had left us parched and unwashed during all but unbearable months in summer. Once at least every winter we were snowed in... "Frequently, we walked in groups up the mountainside and back, returning in the evening to make hot chocolate in the social hall... the amenities of our lives would have been impossible anywhere else..." Year later Sister Madeleva would say the seven years she spent in Utah were among the happiest of her life. The faith-filled presence, generosity, and willingness to respond to local needs that the 1,374 Holy Cross women brought to the people of Utah speaks dramatically of their impact. I consider this one of the most marvelous untold stories of our local church.
Stay Connected With Us