National Catholic Sisters Week slated March 8-14

A grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation will enable St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota to lead a national campaign to promote the numerous contributions of women religious. The first-ever celebration of National Catholic Sisters Week, sponsored by an organization of the same name, will take place March 8-14 and will be kicked off with an event March 7-9 at St. Catherine University.

As a part of Women’s History Month, the university will honor Catholic Sisters who have served faithfully as an integral part of American history. Attending the inaugural event is a team of sisters from the Diocese of Corpus Christi including, Sister Anna Marie Espinosa, IWBS and Tatiana Muniz, a student at the University of the Incarnate Word of San Antonio.

The March 7-9 kick-off event will bring together college age women and women religious from various congregations across the United States. Underwritten by the Hilton Foundation, grant funds support housing, food and local travel costs for participants.

Among the events planned at St. Catherine are opportunities to engage young women in conversations about religious life, to learn about doing oral history and to discuss the use of social media in promoting vocations. On March 8, broadcast journalist Soledad O'Brien is scheduled to moderate a panel discussion on discernment called "Sister Stories: How Did I Know?" The university also plans to launch a Web site, which includes resources from religious communities across the country.