Walk In Faith: Highlights

Sacred Heart Schools

Sacred Heart Schools had much to celebrate during the 2022-23 academic year. We announced and implemented the Office of Catholic Identity and Ursuline Charism to promote and carry the teaching mission of the Ursuline Sisters into the future.

As a campus, we celebrated the first Sacred Heart Schools Day on October 4, signifying 145 years of Ursuline education, followed by the feast of St. Ursula and Founders Day on October 31, commemorating the founding of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville in 1858. We experienced many beautiful moments of faith this year, including the Paschal Mystery experience at Sacred Heart School for the Arts for students and staff. The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program continued at Sacred Heart Preschool and Sacred Heart Model School, in addition to theology instruction, retreats, school Mass and prayer services and more at each of our schools.

The spirit of St. Angela and our Ursuline Sisters is vibrant and pervasive in our school community, punctuated by amazing academic experiences, emphasis on teaching the whole child through arts and athletics, and dedication to formal leadership development for all students. It’s a great time to be at Sacred Heart Schools! —Dr. Karen McNay, president

Nativity Academy

Nativity Academy at St. Boniface is an independent Catholic middle school that transforms the lives of students who have a commitment to achievement and whose families demonstrate financial need. We offer an academic school day for sixth, seventh and eighth grades, afterschool enrichment, an extended school year, and graduate support for life. Nativity Academy serves students from the urban core of Louisville.

In July 2022, Amy Olson became the executive director of Nativity. To honor the 20th anniversary of the school in 2023 and Sister Paula Kleine-Kracht, Nativity Academy’s first executive director, the Sister Paula Kleine-Kracht Scholarship was created. We know without a doubt that Sister Paula, Father Tim Hogan and Father Bill Fichteman walked in faith to get the school up and running in 2003. The fund will be used to sponsor one student to attend Nativity Academy and provide a scholarship for a current Nativity eighth grader to attend a local Catholic high school. —Amy Olson, executive director

Associates

Who knew that 2022–23 would be such a year of transition—imagining, walking in faith and hope. The Future Planning Team kicked off the year with a visioning session for the entire Associate community in July of 2022. Themes of charism, community and growth were consistent among the Associate community as we looked toward the future. In September, Mark Clarke, a facilitator who often works closely with the Sisters, led a planning day with the former Associate Board and Future Planning Team to create a Transitional Governing Board that will lead the Associate community.

The Transitional Governing Board members, Patricia Hagan, Lauren Hitron, Anne Reardon, Donna Ising and Karen Harris, met monthly to plan prayer and social gatherings for Louisville-area Associates. We were elected in late 2022 to keep us going as lovers of God, St. Angela, and one another until such time as the Future Planning Team can call us together to discuss what newness we might seek as Associates. We completed and sent out the new Associate Directory. We distributed the minutes of the meetings of the board, the Spirituality Committee and the Future Planning Team so that all of us could share in what was happening behind the scenes. We began a new monthly column called “I’ve Been Thinking...” and sent out a monthly calendar of the various reflection groups and meetings.

We had our annual retreat on March 19, 2023, led by Sister Rosella McCormick, and we continued our Faith and Fellowship gatherings on the third Sunday of each month. We discussed possible outreach programs, for us as individuals and as a community, led by Lisa Steiner in her Peace and Justice communications.

Colegio Parroquial Santa Angela Merici, Callao, Peru

We finished the 2022–23 school year grateful for the return to in-person classes. Our theme for last year, “Know, Love, Protect Life,” had us celebrating being together, caring for one another, and paying attention in a different way to individual and community needs.

But the year ended on a very sad note, with an attempted coup by then-president Pedro Castillo. With the Congress more closed than ever to the voice of the people, protests began in the streets. Government forces reacted, killing some fifty people who were totally innocent. Schools were closed sporadically, depending on their location, because of the violence that was taking place. The tone of the end of the school year changed dramatically.

Protests continued until heavy rains began in February, and we faced a different kind of disaster. Flooding began in the Lima area, affecting the three rivers that feed into Lima, and we were totally unprepared for the devastation that took homes, crops, animals, and the livelihood of many people. Nothing had been done by the government since the flood of 2017 to protect roads, highways, homes and farmlands.

In summary, our school year began with collecting food and clothing for the communities who lost everything. Our programming was changed to take into account the viciousness of climate change and the consequences of not being proactive. Most affected by climate change are always the poor and the indigenous communities whose voices never reach those in power. We don’t need faith to move mountains. The floods do that. We need faith to believe in one another—the power of collective voices, and the will to bring faith into action. Our students are challenged to believe that their voices matter.

—Sr. Sue Scharfenberger, mission effectiveness director

Archives

Walking in faith this year highlights:

• Continued to prepare our archival collection for its future home with the Women Religious Archive Collaborative in Cleveland.

• Helped complete a timeline and display in the new Heritage Room showcasing the history of the Ursuline campus and Sacred Heart Schools.

• Answered several dozen reference requests from researchers, genealogists and staff members.

The Future Planning Team continues to work with Mark Clarke and seek input as we plan for the future of the Associates. We are exploring formation and how to strengthen that process for all new and current Associates. The Sisters have been generous in their encouragement and support while giving us the time and space to determine a structure that fits the needs of our community.

We Walk In Faith and are grateful for this opportunity to serve our Associates.

Patricia Hagan, Lauren Hitron Ursuline Associates

• Contributed historical photos and information for DOME articles.

• Began a three-year term as secretary of the Board for Archivists for Congregations of Women Religious (ACWR).

—Laurel Wilson, archivist

Angela Merici Center for Spirituality

Walking in faith has been our theme for this year. It certainly has been a journey in faith as we let go of the Angela Merici Spirituality Center.

This year the Angela Merici Spirituality Center experienced the transitioning of Ginny Schaeffer’s time with us as the director of AMC into her retirement. As we gradually, in faith, let go of our ministries, we believed it was a natural time to also let go of our Spirituality Center. The Center closed in December 2022, however, Ginny will continue to bring Angela’s spirit to the Bellarmine University campus beginning in July 2023.

We thank her for 21 years of service with us and wish her well in her new endeavor at Bellarmine. —Sister Rita Ann Wigginton, Leadership Team