By Itzel González, Yannina González Samilpa, Bella McCartney, and Karla Reyes (Members of the SacredHeartDNA core team) “Belong & Act as One: Discovering our SacredHeartDNA” is the story of a great adventure; a journey of courage, of will, and above all, of love. Directed by the SacredHeartDNA program, the “Belong and Act as One” event…
In anticipation of the international World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023 with Pope Francis, 24 young people connected to the Society of the Sacred Heart and five Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) arrived in Rome to begin the inaugural SacredHeartDNA program: “Belong and Act as One: Discovering Our SacredHeartDNA.” SacredHeartDNA is an initiative born…
By Mary Hotz, RSCJ On Tuesday, July 11, Society of the Sacred Heart partners in mission, Associates, and Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) from across the United States – Canada (USC) Province, as well as from the Province of Mexico, met virtually for the 2023 USC Provincial Assembly. This Assembly — a formal gathering…
Maria Cimperman, RSCJ Maria Cimperman, RSCJ, author of Religious Life for our World: Creating Communities of Hope, an ethicist and professor at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and the founder of the Center for the Study of Consecrated Life, has been invited to attend the Synod on Synodality in October 2023 in Rome as a non-voting…
Rome, June 16, 2023 Dear Sisters, Friends and Partners in Mission, COURAGE, CONFIDENCE, TRANSFORMATION … through the power of the Spirit These are bold words for us to proclaim and commit ourselves to publicly. And yet on this Feast of the Sacred Heart 2023, that is what we do when we renew our commitment to…
This past May, Uchenna “Uche” Oluoha, RSCJ, earned a doctorate of nursing practice from University of San Diego (USD). Supported by her RSCJ community, Uche received her doctoral hood in a ceremony, fittingly, on May 25, the Feast of Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat — the founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Uche then…
Associated Alumnae & Alumni of the Sacred Heart (AASH) named Mary Margaret “Peggy” McDonnell, RSCJ, honoree of the 2023 Woman of Conscience Award. Sister McDonnell was honored at the 44th AASH National Conference held this year in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, May 18-20. AASH began the Woman of Conscience Award in 1991. Their website reads: “Woman of Conscience”…
By Michael Pera, Archives Assistant for the Society of the Sacred Heart United States – Canada Province “Mother” is a particularly resonant term for the Sacred Heart family. It recalls not only the title used by choir religious before the changes of the 1967 Special Chapter, but the love and devotion so central to Sacred Heart…
Karla speaks during the SacredHeartDNA in-person launch in St. Louis. This past January, Karla Reyes joined the staff of Society of the Sacred Heart United States – Canada Province and began working for the Province’s Young Adult and Vocation Ministry Office. In her role as young adult and vocation ministry assistant, Karla works with Director…
On the evening of Thursday, March 23, 2023, a fire broke out and consumed the former Society of the Sacred Heart convent and school at Kenwood in Albany, New York. The Provincial Team, comprised of four Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) who lead the Society of the Sacred Heart United States – Canada Province,…
Dear Sisters, Associates, Alumnae, Alumni and Friends of the Sacred Heart, It is with great sadness we share that on the evening of Thursday, March 23, 2023, a fire broke out and consumed the former Society of the Sacred Heart convent and school at Kenwood in Albany, New York. This catastrophic fire is heartbreaking for…
By Amanda Codina, Reyna González, RSCJ, and Karla Reyes Community. Love. Hope. Vision. Opportunity. These, among many others, were some of the words that our guests used to describe the SacredHeartDNA project during its launch party on Friday, February 24. SacredHeartDNA is a group of Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) and young people connected…
In early November, students and educators from member schools of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools traveled to Florissant, Missouri, for “Living Our Sacred Heart Mission,” a program aimed to engage participants in intergenerational dialogue on the mission of Sacred Heart Education and the history of the Society of the Sacred Heart in North America….
On January 11, 2023, Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) and staff at the Oakwood Retirement Community in Atherton, California, participated in the #WearBlueDay Campaign for National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the United States. Additionally, sisters engaged in educational opportunities throughout the day and held a liturgy in honor and memory of victims and…
To acknowledge our complicity in systems that hurt, diminish, and disregard others and our earth is a sign of our capacity to respond to God’s call in a new way – that of strength in weakness. Such awareness of our personal, communal, congregational, institutional complicity in unjust systems humbles us. It invites us to be…
Ten schools within the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, a network of 25 Catholic independent Sacred Heart schools and the United States – Canada Province of the Society of the Sacred Heart, welcomed new Heads of Schools and Presidents to their respective school communities this fall. Provincial Suzanne Cooke, RSCJ, Head of the Conference of Sacred…
With sadness and with hearts full of gratitude for a life so fully and well lived in love, we share that Mary “Be” Mardel, RSCJ, died on October 4, 2022, at the age of 104. One can imagine the impact a person can have over the course of a 104-year-lifetime, and Be was no exception….
Friends share a moment with Deanna Rose Von Bargen, RSCJ On a rare rainy day in Atherton, California, in mid-September the staff, residents, and friends of Oakwood Retirement Community — one of and the largest of the Province’s retirement communities — gathered for an open house to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Oakwood. This celebration was…
From the Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) at The Stuart Center for Mission As Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) in the United States – Canada Province, we are called by our 2016 Chapter Calls to stand in solidarity with “those who have been wounded, displaced, and excluded,” and “to defend…
The Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles, Missouri, held a memorial Mass in honor of Mary Loretta “Buschie” Busch, RSCJ, on the First Friday of September 2022. Sister Busch passed away on June 2, 2022. Family, friends, former students and many from the Academy community joined together in celebration of such a beloved…
This past July, Elizabeth Hicks, Chair of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools Board of Trustees, announced Sheila Haggas as Executive Director of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the United States and Canada. Sheila had been serving as Interim Executive Director since January of 2022. Hicks remarked that Sheila has done an outstanding job…