What's Happening

January 30, 2025, Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Sister Nancy Murray, OP, known for her long-time ministry of performing a one-woman stage presentation of 14th Century Dominican mystic St. Catherine of Siena, recently took on new roles. She portrayed Sister Catarina de Vigri, St. Catherine of Bologna (1413-1463), an Italian Franciscan Sister and later Poor Clare, as well as the two foundresses of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee. 

The presentation took place recently during that community’s 150th-anniversary Gala, held at the Saint Kate Hotel in Milwaukee. The hotel is named after St. Catherine of Bologna, Patroness of the Arts.

“There was such a great enthusiasm about [the presentation and Gala] because they had never done anything like that before,” Sister Nancy said of the School Sisters of St. Francis. The evening included dinner, a silent auction, a live auction, and dancing to the music of mariachis, she recalled. “There was great joy that something they had never tried before was so successful.” 

Sister Nancy said she was invited in April 2024 to portray St. Catarina by Sister Deborah Fumagalli, SSSF, newly elected to the community’s International Leadership Team. Ironically, Sister Nancy said, much of Sister Deborah’s ministry experience was with Dominicans: a few years at Aquinas Dominican High School in Chicago and 26 years at Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, Illinois – both sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Now, Sister Nancy said, she returned the favor by immersing herself in the Franciscan heritage. 

Sister Nancy devoted a great deal of time to studying the materials on the life and times of St. Catherine, provided by Sister Deborah. As a friend of the daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, Catherine was brought up in the Duke’s court, where she enjoyed the advantage of an education. But when the Duke killed his wife and his wife’s boyfriend on learning of her infidelity, Catherine fled the court and joined the Franciscans in her town as a Franciscan Tertiary. Because her superior believed that Catherine’s privileges could make her too proud, she was relegated to tending the animals outside the convent. There, she met and befriended the local people, offering prayers for their intentions. The superior then ordered her to engage in full-time ministry as the community’s novice mistress – inside the convent and away from the people. 

After four years, Sister Catherine left that community and in 1432 co-founded a convent in the Order of Poor Clares. Catherine was named Superioress and later became the Abbess of a second Poor Clare community. Throughout it all, she was always willing to serve in humbler capacities and continued to work on her art – which has received recognition for its quality, Sister Nancy said.

Sister Nancy’s preparation also involved obtaining a habit of the Poor Clares. She asked Sister Barbara Quincey, OP, gifted at quilting and sewing, to create the habit. “The pattern would never have been done if it was up to me,” Sister Nancy said. “[Sister] Barb really was a pro.”

After her years of portraying St. Catherine of Siena, Sister Nancy said she can easily relate to St. Catherine of Bologna – who had probably heard about her Dominican predecessor. Like St. Catherine of Siena, Sister Nancy said, the service of St. Catherine of Bologna involved “compassion, empathy, and care for patients.”

But the focus of Sister Nancy’s presentation changed when she began studying materials about the history of the School Sisters of St. Francis – and especially about their founders: Emma Franziska (Mother Alexia) Hoell, Paulina (Mother Alfons) Schmid, and Helena (Sister Clara) Seiter. The three left their community in Germany in 1843 to come to the United States and establish their community in Wisconsin. 

“I had to change my accent to German so I could be the two Mothers,” Sister Nancy recalled. The story included the Mothers’ building projects – still standing today – and their conflict with bishops as they started their new community. The School Sisters of St. Francis “wanted to convey that they were standing on the shoulders of people whose lives showed a lot of sacrifice,” Sister Nancy said.

The timing of her performance also changed, from one hour to 20 minutes – with much more material. Ultimately, Sister Nancy spent 25 minutes portraying Sister Catherine of Bologna and the foundresses of the School Sisters of St. Francis.    

Sister Nancy comes by her own creative talent as an actress very naturally. A native of Wilmette, Illinois, and a graduate of Regina Dominican High School, she grew up in the talented Murray family, which includes her brother, the well-known actor Bill Murray.  

Sister Nancy took on her ministry of portraying St. Catherine of Siena after the April 2000 death of Sister Kathleen Harkins, OP. She followed in Sister Kathleen’s footsteps, bringing her one-woman performance to parishes, schools, and other organizations throughout the United States and around the world. 

She has also portrayed other women religious, most notably Sister Dorothy Stang, a School Sister of Notre Dame who was martyred in 2005 while helping poor farmers protect their land in the Amazon Rainforest.

Sister Nancy is available to bring her prayerful performance to schools, parishes, and other organizations. Contact her at 517-266-3533 or [email protected].

 

Caption for above feature photo: Adrian Dominican Sister Nancy Murray, OP, portraying St. Catherine Vigri of Bologna, interacts with guests at the School Sisters of St. Francis 150th Anniversary Gala.
Photo Courtesy of the School Sisters of St. Francis
 

March 28, 2024, New York, New York – Dominican Sisters around the world continue to dedicate their lives to empowering women and work to eradicate poverty, especially in the areas of human trafficking, asylum, and the dangers that women and children face in combat areas.
 
Dominican Sisters from Brazil, Cameroon, and Ireland spoke of their work during a “Dominican Webinar: Our Commitment to Empowerment of Women and the Eradication of Poverty.” Hosted by Adrian Dominican Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, Dominican Representative at the United Nations, the webinar was held March 19, 2024, during the second week of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 68, March 11-22, 2024. “We hope you will learn more about the Dominican commitment,” Sister Durstyne said in her introduction. 
 
“Human trafficking is the result of the misery of the economic system that commodifies people and doesn’t respect human rights,” said Sister Sandra Camilo Ede-Brasileira of the Cry for Life Network (Um Grito Pela Vita) in Brazil. The inter-congregational network works to combat and prevent human trafficking, which includes sexual exploitation of women and child labor. “Our network is a space for prophetic action and solidarity, linked to the religious conference of Brazil,” Sister Sandra said.
 
Survivors of human trafficking receive support from psychologists and by participating in handicraft and baking projects, Sister Sandra said. “We can fight for wounded people with a praxis that can free them,” she said. “Our network gives us the creativity to start from different points of view,” developing models that can address the issues of society.
 
Sister Sandra said the network also holds awareness campaigns. “A person who is aware of this reality can really open their eyes to the situation,” she said. 
 
Sister Marie Cleide Pires de Andrade, OP, also from Brazil, works with other Sisters to combat domestic violence and to accompany its victims. “This is the experience of many women in this social context marked by inequality,” she said. A member of the Dominican Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sister Cleide said the emphasis is on “encouraging self-knowledge and self-esteem” among the women through activities that enhance their daily lives.
 
Sister Cleide used the community garden where the women work as a metaphor for the Sisters’ ministry with the women. “The seeds have been sown, such as spaces for welcome, friendship, listening, and raising awareness,” she said. “We want to continue dreaming and sowing seeds of joy and hope.… We are bearers of light.”
 
Sister Linda Nkechi Korie, OP, a Dominican Sister of Blessed Imelda, helps women combat poverty through services such as childcare. The Sisters of Blessed Imelda have worked for women’s empowerment for the past 40 years and now have six communities in three regions, building schools wherever they are, she said. 
 
She focused on efforts to educate girls and women, noting that 129 million school-age girls are not attending classes. “Early marriage, poverty, low family income, large distance to schools, lack of school infrastructure – all these factors contribute to increasing the social gap in the region” because of lack of education, she said. 
 
The Dominican Sisters of Blessed Imelda strive to provide schooling for more girls by offering scholarships. “We have sent 600 to schools, but that’s not enough,” Sister Linda said. She added that the Sisters are also building more schools to make up for many that have been destroyed.
 
In addition, Sister Linda said that the Sisters train women through income-generating skills, such as producing soap, and have employed many women in their schools.
 
Also in Cameroon, Sister Joseph Ngo Ndezeba serves at the St. Dominic Multipurpose Center in Balikumbat, in a conflict zone. “The schools have been shut down for a very long time; therefore, the children have been deprived of education and feel abandoned,” she said. “Girls are prey to unwanted pregnancies and unwanted marriages.”
 
Sister Joseph said the St. Dominic Multi-purpose Center trains girls to care for themselves and their children through education and training in crafts, home management, and masonry to build a decent home for themselves. The center is also opening the first technical school in the region.
 
Sister Marie Williams, the Coordinator of the Dominican Justice and Peace Office of the Dominican Sisters of Cabra, Ireland, spoke of the Young Mothers’ Network. Sponsored by her office, the network serves young immigrant mothers who came to Ireland seeking asylum and are now living in Ireland’s Direct Provision System. This system of accommodation centers provides asylum seekers with room and board, food, and healthcare until they are allowed to live independently. 
 
Sister Marie spoke of the hardships of this system. “The average length of stay is three years, but some have stayed for nine years,” she said. “People don’t have a say in where they live. A person or family could be moved without warning.” In some cases, she said, people are moved into tents.
 
One particular aspect of the poverty faced by families in the Direct Provision System is shame. “The women speak of the humility of being known by a number and only being spoken of by their needs,” she said. “They want to be recognized and valued for themselves.”
 
Sister Marie said that the Young Mothers’ Network offers women and their children a sense of dignity and recognition. Mothers in Direct Provision are invited to monthly peer meetings, where they can listen to talks on topics such as their essential rights. 
 
“When the women in the group give us feedback, they speak to us about the sense of being accompanied and the friendship and support they have found in the group,” Sister Marie said. “They no longer feel alone. This humanizing experience with others helps them the most – simply being there with others.” 
 
The webinar concluded with concerns from young Dominican students. Maddie and Emily – a sophomore and a senior at Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin – spoke of the small things that young people can do to make a difference in the world. Tatswana and Michelle spoke of aspects of life in their nation, Zimbabwe, that keep women from achieving their potential: the lack of access to finances, early marriage, and teen pregnancies. Erin, Eva, and Katilyn shared a statement by Dominican girls on the importance of education. 
 
The webinar was presented by the Dominican Leadership Conference (DLC) in the United States and the Dominican Sisters International Confederation.