Members of religious orders in the Diocese of Cleveland who are marking significant anniversaries with their congregations this year – 75, 70, 60, 50 and 25 years – celebrated with Bishop Nelson Perez on April 27 at the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe.
Bishop Perez was the celebrant for a jubilee Mass. Concelebrants included Auxiliary Bishop emeritus Roger Gries and several priests from the diocese. Bishop emeritus Anthony Pilla and seminarians from Borromeo and Saint Mary seminaries, including transitional deacons, also attended.
“What would the Church and the Church of Cleveland do without you?” asked Bishop Perez of the jubilarians. He also mentioned that Bishop Pilla himself is a jubilarian and is celebrating a significant anniversary this year – 60 years as a priest.
“Your religious life began with an encounter with the risen Christ. At a time like this, it is good to go back to the beginning and remember the spark that welled up within you,” he said, adding sometimes this brought tears of joy and other times it brought sadness.
“But that was all part of the deal. It’s the Lord working out the gift of salvation in your life and the lives of those you touched,” Bishop Perez said.
He also reflected on what Pope Francis said regarding those in religious life, summing it up in three words: prophecy, proximity and hope.
According to the pope, the role of the religious in the life of the Church is prophetic in the sense that it “puts our sights on something else – a heavenly world,” Bishop Perez said.
Regarding proximity, he said the pope talked about the proximity of the religious, “your proximity to the people of God. In many ways, you had the ‘smell of the sheep’ before we did.”
And in regard to hope, he said despair is part of being human. “But the Christian heart is able to find hope in the midst of that despair. Thank you for that in the name of the Church and the Church of Cleveland. Jesus said we should travel light. You did, and we are grateful,” he added.
After Mass, the jubilarians, Bishop Perez and Bishop Gries posed for photos before enjoying lunch and conversation in the Founder’s Room. Seminarians joined the jubilarians at the lunch and helped to serve the meal.
Those celebrating jubilees in religious life this year are:
75 years – Sister Mary Patricia Gannon, SND, Sister Mary Ann Lavelle, CSJ and Sister Mary Jane Olatta, SND.
70 years – Sister Marie Cecile Bauers, OSU, Sister Mary Colette, PCC, Sister Kathleen Deja, SSJ-TOSF, Sister Julian Eymard, OSU, Sister Pat Finn, CSJ, Sister Eileen Fitzgerald, SIW, Sister Jerome Fitzgerald, SIW, Sister Susanne Gill, HM., Sister Mary Margaret Hess, SND, Sister Roselle Lesinski, SSJ-TOSF, Sister M. Aileen Murphy, OSU, Sister Jeanne Mary Nieminen, SND, Sister Mary Catherine Romancik, SND, Sister Mary Ellen Ryan, SIW, Sister Helen Skok, SSJ-TOSF, Sister Mary Doreen Strahler, SND, Sister Dorothy Turk, CSJ, Sister Mary Rosalind Vilics, SND and Sister Joan of Arc Walsh, SIW.
60 years – Sister Mary Therese Berry, HM, Sister John Paul Bobak, SND, Sister Mary Joanne Bonczek, SND, Sister Judith Cauley, CSJ, Sister John Marie Charniga, OP, Sister June Hansen, CSJ, Sister Carol Kandiko, CSA, Sister Mary Kathleen Knechtges, SND, Sister Carolyn Marshall, HM, Sister Amy McFrederick, OP, Sister Martha Mooney, OSU, Sister Helen Jean Novy, HM, Sister Mary Popoczy, SND, Sister Susan Mary Rathbun, OSU, Sister Eileen Marie Reardon, SND, Sister Anne Marie Robinson, SND, Sister Priscilla Saxton, CSJ, Sister Mary Jacquelyn Sefcovic, SND, Sister Mary Geralyn Stenger, SND, Sister Therese Guerin Sullivan, SP, Sister Marjorie Szydlo, SSJ-TOSF, Sister Mary Ann Tusai, SND, Sister Mary Ann Wiesemann-Mills, OP, Father Frederick Benda, SJ, Father Samuel Driscoll, OFM Cap, Brother Kenneth Kane, CSC, Brother Robert Lavelle, CSC and the Right Rev. Clement Zeleznik, OSB.
50 years – Sister Harriet Agnew, OP, Sister Elaine Berkopec, OSU, Sister Mary Kendra Bottoms, SND, Sister Mary Emilia Castelletti, SND, Sister M. Matilda Cutura, FDC, Sister Mary Elizabeth Daly, SND, Sister Mary Barbara Daugherty, SND, Sister Christine DeVinne, OSU, Mother Mary Dolores, PCC, Sister Maureen Doyle, SND, Sister Mary Megan Dull, SND, Sister M. Georgene Golock, FDC, Sister Margaret Mary Gorman, SND, Sister M. Martin Green, FDC, Sister Mary Karita Ivancic, SND, Sister Marie Alex Justavich, SND, Sister Karen Kirby, CSJ, Sister Mary Joela Leinberger, SND, Sister Mary Lenette Marcello, SND, Sister Judy Morris, OP, Sister Madeline Muller, HM, Sister Donna Marie Paluf, SND, Sister Mary Rene Pastor, SND, Sister Mary Gail Sako, SND, Sister Janet Schlichting, OP, Sister Mary Clare Smith, SND, Sister Judith Wood, SSJ-TOSF, Father Timothy Buyansky, OSB, Father Joachim Pastirik, OSB, Father Dominic Mondzelewski, OSB and Father Gerald Sabo, SJ.
25 years – Sister Mary Katherine Feely, SND, Sister Karen Fitzpatrick, SSJ-TOSF, Sister Pamela Fowle, OSU, Sister Carrie Vall, CSJ and Father Juancho Ramos, SSS.
