Fairfield Jesuit community gathers to honor the Religious Sisters of the Diocese and to celebrate 70 years of ministry in Southern Connecticut | Press Releases

Image: Jesuit Center Calling Religious Sisters "the human face of the Church in America for more than 200 years," the Fairfield Jesuit community along with others will gather Sunday, November 4, on the Fairfield University campus to celebrate 70 years of ministry in Southern Connecticut and to honor the Religious Sisters of the Diocese for their part in ministry to the Church and the Diocese.

The celebration will begin with an 11 a.m. Mass open to the public in Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola on campus and will be followed by a private luncheon in the dining room of the Dolan School of Business.

The Rev. Paul Holland, S.J., rector of the Fairfield Jesuit community, talked about the critical role the Religious Sisters have played in the ministry of the Jesuits in this area.

"Ever since the opening of Fairfield College Preparatory School in 1942, Religious Sisters of numerous congregations have been part of the ministry of the Jesuits in southern Connecticut. The Sisters have taught in the grammar schools from which generations of Prep boys have graduated. Sisters minister at the soup kitchens, food pantries, adult literacy agencies and after-school programs at which Prep and Fairfield University students do service projects and 'urban plunge' retreats, " Father Holland explained.

"Women Religious are spiritual directors, catechists, pastoral associates, administrators, chaplains and directors of religious education in the many parishes, hospitals and prisons where the Jesuits also serve the local Church. They minister to the sick, they console those who grieve, they advocate for the poor and forgotten; the Sisters laugh and sing and praise God with their lips and with their lives. For 70 years, the Society of Jesus at Fairfield has been grateful to God that we can count these women as our friends and collaborators in mission. This liturgy and luncheon are a small way for us Jesuits to say to say 'thank you' to these women, and all their sisters who have gone before them, for very really, they have been the human face of the Church in America for more than 200 years, " Father Holland said.