We Mourn and Celebrate Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Former Board Member

Ada Maria Isasi-DiazDr. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz died on May 13, 2012 at age 69 after having received the Holy Sacraments. Ada Maria was born in La Habana, Cuba, on March 22, 1943, the daughter of Josefina Diaz de Isasi and Domingo G. Isasi-Battle (RIP 2005). She lived her youth in Cuba, studying in La Habana where she graduated from Merici Academy in 1960.

She moved to the United States in 1960 with her family, and soon after entered the Ursuline novitiate in Santa Rosa,California.  After finishing studies at New Rochelle College, NY, Ada was sent to Lima, Peru by the order to work among the poor in the “barriada de Miramar”.  There she became passionate in caring for the dispossessed and building the “kin-dom” of God.

After leaving the convent in 1969, she lived with her family in the United States.  Realizing that she had a continued calling to be an educator and a voice for the underprivileged, Ada Maria moved in 1975 to Rochester, New York where she served in two inner city parishes and became involved in the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC).

Ada Maria earned a Masters of Divinity and a Doctorate in Theology from Union Theological Seminary, in New York City in 1990.  At Union, she started her lifelong engagement and leadership in the community of Liberation Theologians. Continuing her commitment to women’s issues, she coined the term Mujerista theology to make explicit the Latina voice in Feminist Liberation Theology.

In 1991, Ada Maria became a professor of Ethics and Theology at Drew University, Madison, NJ from where she retired in 2009. Students were very fond of her and described her as someone who was a demanding teacher, fair, honest and passionate. While at Drew University, she co-founded the Hispanic Theological Institute for training of Hispanic Theologians.

She was a prolific writer, completing eight books, and many scholarly articles.  Her seminal work was Mujerista Theology: a Theology for the 21st Century.

She is survived and remembered by her mother, sisters, and brother, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, her nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, friends and the community of women she mentored and inspired.

Visiting hours will be held at Caballero-Rivero-Woodlawn, 8200 SW 40th Street, Miami, FL from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. on May 18, 2012.  A Mass of the Resurrection will be held at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 7377 SW 64th Street,Miami, FL at 2:00 p.m. on May 19, 2012; followed by the internment at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery, 11411 NW 25th St, Miami,FL.

In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to either:

 Mary’s Pence                                              Mercy Corps
275 East 4th Street, #707                         P.O. Box 2669
St. Paul, MN 55101                                    Portland, OR 97208
 
Ada Maria served on the Mary’s Pence board from 1991 to 1994 and was a sister-friend to Yolanda Tarango, CCVI and Rosalie Muschal-Reinhardt, founding board members.  The above obituary was written by her family and published in the Miami Herald on May 16, 2012.  We are honored and humbled that her family has asked that memorial gifts be sent to Mary’s Pence.  Please join us in remembering and celebrating Ada Maria’s life and in praying for her dear friends and family, especially her mother, during this time of grief.
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Giving Thanks and Moving Forward! Celebrating 25 Years!

What a grand gathering!  We gave thanks, celebrated our roots, and re-dedicated to moving forward in Gospel Justice.

Yesterday, the National Catholic Reporter online published an article about our celebration.  Click here to read the article.

Below we’ve shared some pictures from the event.  You can view the event program by clicking here.

Maureen Gallagher, OP took us back to our roots and re-told the mystical story of our founding.  She reminded us that we are each called to action on behalf of liberation.  You can read the whole story here.

 

 

 

Mary’s Pence grantee Sisters Rising Project of the Stillpointe Theater Collective shared their stories of struggle, healing and hope.  The performers of Sisters Rising are formerly incarcerated Chicago-area women who meet weekly in facilitated workshops focused on developing performance and writing skills.  You can learn more about their work on their website by clicking here.

 

 

Edwina Gateley delivered the keynote address and reminded us all to continue to all God to stretch us opening our hearts more fully.  Calling Mary’s Pence, leaven for the world, she reminded us that we each have a unique role in embodying God’s love in concrete and practical ways.

 

 

 

 

Our closing prayer summarized our hopes and dreams as we move forward as a community:

We look forward to the future in faith and hope,

working for the day when we and all our sisters

no longer have to fit a stereotype,

but are free to use all our gifts

and to share in all the benefits of human life and work.

We look forward to the age of peace,

when violence is banished,

when both women and men are able to love and be loved,

and the work and wealth of our world is justly shared.

We believe that our future depends on us,

but that all the forces of good, love, peace and justice,

all the creative powers of the universe,

work with us to achieve that vision.

May it come soon.

(adapted from Women’s Creed by Norma Hardy)
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Grantee Voice of Pax Christi Metro New York Remembers

I can’t remember how or when I first heard about Mary’s Pence, but I know I fell in love with it immediately. I loved the idea of an organization designed specifically to serve the needs of women, particularly impoverished women. I also loved the play on the name, Peter’s Pence. I felt an immediate draw to contribute in a way, dare I admit, Peter’s Pence did not draw me. The more I learned about the work of Mary’s Pence both domestically and across borders, the more impressed I was. I think the current work through the Espera Fund is brilliant, perhaps largely influenced by my own life-changing travels to Latin America where the women were my greatest inspiration.

While I can’t remember when I first learned of Mary’s Pence, it had to be relatively early in its formation. I say that because I know it was in the late 90s that Pax Christi Metro New York (PCMNY) was a grateful recipient of a Mary’s Pence grant. By that time, I was already a regular supporter. My familiarity with Mary’s Pence was the reason I was able to recommend applying for the grant. I was Chairperson of the PCMNY Council at the time.

We received the grant to bring our conflict resolution program to women’s shelters that would not otherwise have able to pay for it. The grant enabled us to bring our workshop to 10 shelters. It was a wonderful experience for me to conduct many of those workshops for women whose lives have been so challenged, but who bear such strength and wisdom. Hopefully, the skills our workshop taught were equally valuable for the women, themselves.

A few years after receiving the grant, I was given the opportunity to write a reflection for Mary’s Pence. At that time, Mary’s Pence published reflections by many of its companeras for prayer and study. I was honored to write about my journey to becoming the Director of PCMNY, which came about through an almost mystical sense of calling. David Haas’ song, “You Are Mine,” guided my discernment and the reflection that I composed. Today I continue to be Director of metropolitan New York’s regional chapter of the Catholic peace movement, and I continue to support Mary’s Pence.

The two movements speak to me of what it means to be Christian–to work for peace and social justice as interconnected entities. Both promote life by raising up the dignity of the human person, especially women who can be so badly suppressed at the same time that they can be the true back-bone of their families and communities.

Mary’s Pence is a great source of uplifting stories, hope, and encouragement. Its resources whether for prayer, events like the Lenten Soup Supper, or actions to counter poverty and sexism are excellent in quality and accessibility. I wish Mary’s Pence a very long future blessed with all that is needed to continue to make the world a better place for women and all they affect.

In peace,
Rosemarie Pace

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Mary’s Pence Jubilee Prayer

We give thanks for this cloud of witnesses,

For women skilled in the art of survival and resistance,

For women rich in experience

wasting nothing,

yet creating

an artful, useful life.

Common threads bind us:

uncommon women,

uncommon vocations.

Together we re-create the world.

Together, we form a patchwork legacy of justice.

Together . . . we proclaim Jubilee!

 written by Anna Aldave Alkin for Mary’s Pence 10th Anniversary
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From Former Board Member Diann Neu

I felt called to serve on Mary’s Pence board because I am a Catholic feminist who believes in women.  I believe in grassroots communities.  I believe in Catholic social justice.  I believe in supporting women’s projects everywhere, especially in theAmericas.  I believe that funding women changes lives.  Mary’s Pence puts these beliefs into action.  As co-founder and co-director of the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER), I put these beliefs into action every day.  May we continue to support one another and women’s projects in the Americas.   Thank you, Mary’s Pence Sisters, for 25 years of making a difference in women’s lives.

Giving thanks as we move forward,

Diann Neu

Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual

 

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Other Founding Women

While the board met twice a year and took responsibility for spreading the word around the country, others served on committees or were helpful in the daily operations on the ground in Chicago.  These women and men were often busy with their own projects and organizations; nonetheless, they offered their invaluable time and talent to bringing Mary’s Pence to solid footing. (Click on each name to read her full biography).

 

Sheila and Dan Daley of CTA

Sheila Daley, was often found at Maureen Gallagher’s dining room table sharing what she had learned founding the national movement  Call To Action with her husband a few years earlier.  Sheila served on many Mary’s Pence committees and promoted it to a national audience through mailings to CTA members, many who became and remain donors to this day.   In time Sheila would find time to graciously served two terms on the board.  Her involvement during the early years and her passion for the mission of Mary’s Pence helped ease the transition of staff leadership from Maureen Gallagher to Anna Aldave.

 

Donna Quinn, OP

Donna QuinnOP, who was serving as the Director of Chicago Catholic Women which she had founded in 1974, and was fresh from helping found Women’s Church Convergence, provided key connections to national women’s movements and networks.  These groups would surface the core of Mary’s Pence supporters, women who held prayer meetings where collections were taken, and led potential grantees to the new Catholic women’s fund.

 

Patty Crowley

Patty Crowley

Patty Crowley  hosted the meeting where the idea of Mary’s Pence first surfaced. She and her husband Patrick are credited with founding the popular Christian Family Movement and were invited by Pope to be part of the Papal Birth Control Commission in 1964.  Patty continued to host gatherings of women in her home well into her 80s, and even after her death remains a beacon of light to those who seek to live their faith and their lives fully.  Fr. Andrew Greeley, a longtime friend of the Crowleys, said, “In terms of lay activism, Patty was the most important woman of her time, and CFM was the most important movement of the pre-conciliar church.”

 

Sean Fox  OSM was a Chicago Attorney active in several local groups. She had met Maureen Gallagher in the 1970s through the Metropolitan Alliance of Sisters and attended prayer meetings at Patty Crowley’s, including the one where the name “Mary’s Pence” was suggested. She was busy starting her own practice after working with Legal Aid and seeing the adverse effects bad divorce settlements were having on women, but took time to provide legal counsel as Mary’s Pence became a non-profit organization.  She remained legal counsel for Mary’s Pence for more than 10 years.

 

 

 

 

 

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Cheryl Keehner, CSA Remembers

Cheryl Keehner, CSAI joined the board while I was teaching high school in downtown Cleveland, feeling comfortable enough with my assignment to become active in some “extra-curriculars.”  In the late 70’s I had been a member of the first Pastoral Council for the Cleveland diocese. I also had experience serving as a Board member for the St. Ann Foundation, the first of many foundations which the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine would sponsor as a way to continue our health care and social service ministry for the poor, especially women and children.

I knew about Mary’s Pence from an NCR article and fell in love with its founding story, so simple and creative. After that, I began looking for their booth at conferences.  I became a Mary’s Pence “groupie” and at some point was bold enough to volunteer my services as a Board member should I ever be needed.

I remember being proud of their study grants which enabled Catholic women here and abroad to complete their college education.  I knew that by helping women complete their social service degrees and degrees in theology, they would help shape the future.

I also remember on-going discussion about continuing to fund ministry projects of religious women. Shouldn’t their congregations be supporting them?  The reality of new ministries – sister founded, sister led—was occurring across the country, as was the dialogue within congregations about how to honor the desire of sisters to be engaged in more “hands on” ministry vs. traditional institutional-sponsored ministries.

Most of all from my term on the Board, I remember the wonderful women with whom I served. Gilda Larios was brand new with me.  Kitty was coming in from Nicquaraga and casting her magical spell on us whenever we met.  Mary Howard and Doris Klein brought their skills, ministry experience and wisdom to the group. We were good together.  We visited the Ursuline ministry in Brownsville, TX, my first experience of life on the boarder. And we met in New York for strategic planning. Karen was expecting her baby boy; the staff was expanding; the mission was deepening. Mary’s Pence was on its way into the future.

Today the ESPERA Funds support many more networks of women, strengthening bonds and promoting sustainability and effective change over a much broader space on the map!  Mary’s Pence continues to be deeply committed to providing funds to those who do not have access to grant, Church or foundation sources, certainly faithful to its niche and a tribute to the Founding Vision. We are indeed “funding women and changing lives.”  I continue to be a Mary’s Pence groupie.

Currently, having completed two terms in leadership in my congregation, I am presently serving as coordinator/consultant for a group in Cleveland working through a planning grant for leadership training of young adults. The program being developed aims to form a new generation of leadership for faith-based non-profits in our area.

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