PERÚ: HERMANA CAROLINA CONROY CELEBRA BODAS DE ORO De la Congregación de Santa María de las Fuentes (Ohio), trabaja como misionera en Chimbote, desde hace 17 años, luchando por la justicia, la paz y la dignidad humana. Demos gracias al Señor por sus 50 años de vida religiosa. Ella es parte del equipo coordinador de CODALC.
Hna. Carolina Conroy: 50 años de vida religiosa
La hermana Carolina Conroy, de la Congregación de Hermanas Dominicas de las Fuentes, está conmemorando 50 años de vida religiosa; de los cuales 17 años los ha dedicado a servir a nuestra Diócesis como misionera.
Sencilla, organizada, generosa, defensora de la dignidad humana y la democracia, con un profundo amor a los marginados, y su carisma de predicadora, hace de ella una mujer ejemplo de religiosa, de mujer, de lidereza y de ciudadana.
Nacida en Estados Unidos, fue profesora en un colegio de primaria. Enseñó física, matemáticas y química en un instituto y fue administradora de asistencia médica en un hospital. Hasta que decidió venir a Perú.
Se integró sin barreras a la comunidad chimbotana. Su trabajo en Caritas le permitió conocer el mundo rural de nuestra Diócesis. Su misión, entregada desde su llegada a la promoción humana, la llevó luego a asumir luego la dirección del Centro de Comunicación y Promoción Social-CECOPROS, donde actualmente tiene el cargo de Presidente del Directorio. Allí impulsó la promoción de valores en los escolares, padres de familia y profesores, la actitud crítica frente a los medios de comunicación y los consultorios de consejería psicológica.
Hoy es una inusual voluntaria que llega cada viernes al Penal de Cambio Puente, donde trabaja con jóvenes internos. Es asociada de la Comisión de Justicia Social También ha ocupado varios cargos en su Congregación, elaborando proyectos de desarrollo y en el área de formadores. Es directiva de la Confederación de Dominicas de América Latina (CODALC). ¡Gracias Carolina por todo su servicio misionero!
Si quiere enviar un saludo puede escribir a: conroy1carolann@yahoo.com
Sr. Germaine Conroy, OP – 50 Year Jubilee
From a very early age in Fairmont, West Virginia, Sr. Germaine Conroy, OP, had thought about becoming a Sister. "My contact with religious Sisters started in kindergarten because my teacher, a Sister of St. Joseph and my mother's friend, wanted me in her class," Sr. Germaine says. From that time on, she was educated by the Sisters of St. Joseph. "In high school, I continued to think about it. I had the opportunity to attend some of the Profession ceremonies of classmates who entered the Sisters of St. Joseph, but I had a boyfriend!"
Sister won a scholarship to the College of St. Mary of the Springs, now Ohio Dominican University, in Columbus Ohio. "My high-school teacher and my principal, both Sisters of St. Joseph said, ‘You will go out there and fall in love with the white habit and that will be the end of you.' And that is what happened. I was in college for one year when, with three of my classmates, I entered the Dominican Novitiate. The example of the Sisters who were my mentors and teachers drew me to explore religious life.
"Why I felt the urge to become a Dominican was not really clear at that time," Sister says. "Over the years, the motivation has deepened and what I was committing myself to, has become much clearer, and much more profound," Sister says. "There was no bolt of lightning.
"In my ministry over the years, I have come to see that serving Jesus is really serving the people with whom I come in contact." Sister has been in Peru for the past 17 years as a missionary. "I had visited Peru a number of times, and I had wanted to go to Peru for a number of years. Finally, I had the opportunity to volunteer to go. My motivation changed from a sense of going to save people to walking with them on their spiritual journey.
"There is always a need for more workers in the vineyard," Sister says. "I invite young men and women to think of how they will live out their own vocation in following in the footsteps of Christ."
After her Profession, Sr. Germaine graduated from the College and began teaching. She taught grade school in Middletown, Pennsylvania, and then high-school physics, math, and chemistry at St. Francis de Sales High School in McKees Rocks. At St. Louis University, she earned a master's degree in Health Administration.
She was health-care administrator at the St. George Hospital in Cincinnati before assuming the duties of Vicaress on the General Council and Director of Development/PR for the Congregation. As a missionary in Chimbote, Peru, Sr. Germaine works as a prison minister and as an educator with the Justice Commission. A member of the Congregational Formation Team, Sister accompanies potential members on their vocation journeys.
Alice Black – Communications Coordinator Dominican Sisters
St. Mary of the Springs, Columbus, Ohio