Benedictine Sisters Earn Recognition
16 April 2011

The achievements of the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica have been recognized in many areas recently. At a meeting of the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses, Sister Anne Shepard, prioress of Mount St. Scholastica, was chosen as their representative to the international assembly of Benedictine superiors.

The Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum (CIB) is the organization of leaders of all Benedictine women's monasteries around the world. Representatives from the nineteen regions of the globe, as well as representatives of several international missionary congregations, meet annually to pray and reflect on contemporary Benedictine life. Sister Anne will represent the region that includes the United States and Canada.

Serving a four-year term, she will attend her first meeting in September in the country of Togo in Africa. Sister Anne is thrilled with this service, and with the affirmation by her peers that it represents. "This is a wonderful opportunity to meet Benedictines from all over the world. I will experience new cultures on the one hand but, on the other, we will share in the common monastic practices and values which we all cherish."

On April 11, Sister Anne was honored by the Atchison Zonta Club as their "Woman of the Year." Zonta is a global organization that seeks to improve the legal, political, economic, educational, and health status of women through service and advocacy. The citation recognized that she and the sisters "share some of the same commitments and focus on strengthening women."

In February, the combined Zonta Clubs of metropolitan Kansas City had also chosen a Benedictine sister as their 2011 "Woman of Achievement." Sister Carol Ann Petersen, director of the Keeler Women's Center in Kansas City, Kansas, sponsored by Mount St. Scholastica, was selected for "making a difference in the lives of women through her professional life and community service."

At its commencement ceremony in May, the Chicago Theological Union will be presenting an honorary doctorate to Sister Mary Collins, former prioress for her contributions to the field of theology. Her research and writings are extensive and, before her election, she was a professor of religion at the Catholic University of America.

Two sisters have also had books published since last fall. Sister Irene Nowell is the author of 101 Questions and Answers on Angels and Devils, published by Paulist Press, and Sister Judith Sutera wrote Advent and Christmas Wisdom from St. Benedict and Lent and Easter Wisdom from St. Benedict for Liguori Publications.