“Feeding the Soul, Feeding the Hungry” is the theme for local initiatives planned for Catholic Sisters Week, March 8-14.
A virtual kick-off event featuring Sister Carol Zinn, SSJ, executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), and Kathy Dahlkemper, Erie County (Pa.) Executive is slated for Sunday, March 7 at 7 p.m. on ZOOM. Erie Bishop Lawrence Persico will offer the opening prayer.
The presentations will focus on food and housing insecurity, especially exacerbated by the pandemic, and how Catholic Sisters’ ministries are addressing these issues. The program will also kick off a weeklong virtual food drive in which the public will be invited to make contributions to various ministries that address food and housing insecurity. These ministries include Emmaus Ministries, Mercy Center for Women, the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network, St. Patrick’s Haven in Erie, and St. James Haven in Meadville, Pa.
The virtual event is being promoted nationally, and anyone can attend the FREE program by registering at eriecatholicsisters.org
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie, the Sisters of Mercy in Erie, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the Erie Diocese Office of Religious, planned these initiatives to call attention to the contribution of Catholic Sisters in meeting the needs of God’s people.
Sister Nancy Fischer, SSJ, director of the Erie Diocesan Office for Religious, and Stephanie Hall, director of communications and public relations for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, will also be part of the program. Gary Loncki, a communicator for the Sisters of Mercy, will host. Erie Benedictine Sister Linda Romey and her communications staff also helped plan the evening.
Special messages supporting Catholic Sisters Week, including one from Jesuit Father James Martin, author and editor-at-large for America magazine, will also be featured.
Catholic Sisters Week is being observed throughout the world with the theme “Celebrating Traditions, Changing the World.”
Click here to register for the virtual event on March 7.
Click here to support the virtual food drive.
