COURTESY PHOTO

Anniversary celebration: Father Geoff Drew of St. Rita Church greeted worshipers with an opening prayer during Mercy Siena Retirement Community's 65th anniversary mass last month in the campus chapel in Dayton. In 1943, the Religious Sister of Mercy arrived in Dayton with a vision to provide high quality health and spiritual care to those in need. The Sisters started the Siena Home for the Elderly, which is now Mercy Siena Retirement Community.

ST. LAWRENCE DEANERY

Sisters of Charity begin 200th anniversary year

The year 2009 will mark the anniversary of the founding of the American Sisters of Charity by St. Elizabeth Seton in Emmitsburg, Md. This is a significant event both for the Sisters of Charity and for the American Catholic Church, since the Sisters of Charity were the first active congregation of women religious founded in the United States.

The Cincinnati Sisters of Charity are planning a full slate of events to celebrate this important landmark. Following are some of the highlights:

Jan. 4: Liturgy for the feast of St. Elizabeth Seton marking the official opening of a year of celebration, including the presentation of Elizabeth Seton Awards.

January-December: The McCann Room display will feature highlights of the200-year history, and a Sisters of Charity timeline will be displayed in the local motherhouse in Delhi.

May 15: Opening of "Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America" exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The exhibit runs until Sept. 7 and will feature a special section on local congregations of women religious.

Oct. 25: Closing liturgy celebrated by Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains and commemoration of the 180th anniversary of the arrival of the Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati on Oct. 27, 1829.

CATHEDRAL DEANERY

Local Catholic father earns award

Jack McWilliams, a married father of seven, received the coveted St. Joseph Distinguished Service Award at the ninth annual St. Joseph School Children's benefit recepion on Dec. 5 in Father Clarence Rivers Hall on the campus of St. Joseph Catholic Parish.

COURTESY PHOTO

Jack McWilliams

I addition to service to the church, McWilliams has also been active in service to the local community.

In 1998 McWilliams became a member of St. Joseph Parish in the West End. He served six years on pastoral council, including a stint as president. In 2000 he became a member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver, the oldest organization in the United States founded by African American Catholics executing works of Catholic action and community service. He served as deputy Grand Knight and is currently financial secretary controller.

McWilliams is a member of the National Association of African American Administrators and Cincinnati Community Development Advisory Council. He also served as an archdiocesan delegate to the National Black Congress held in Washinton, D.C.

DAYTON DEANERY

Grief support group hosts holiday event

The monthly grief support group at St. Helen parish in Riverside will host a holiday meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. to honor those who have died. The group is led by Kim Vesey, who has been a hospice nurse for 24 years and who lost her husband two years ago.

The group meets monthly in the St. Helen Parish Convent building in Riverside and is open to all who have suffered the loss of a loved one. The holiday event will feature the lighting of candles. Those planning to attend are asked to bring a favorite candle and a picture of their loved one. The evening will also include discussion of practical ways to survive the holidays. For additional information call St. Helen pastoral assciate Joan Torres at 937-254-6233.

ARCHDIOCESE

Local Sister re-elected to assembly

Medical Mission Sister Jean Mouch, a Cincinnati native, was recently re-elected to the Medical Mission Sisters' Leadership Team as a North American Assembly Member. A part of the six-member official governing board, Sister Jean will continue for the next three years to help oversee the development of mission for the 130 Sisters living in 15 states in North America, from Alaska to Florida.

Sister Jean graduated from Ou Lady of the Angels High School in 1963. After professing her first vows in 1967, Sister Jean received a bachelors degree in chemistry from Trinity College in Washington, DC, and continued her studies at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, where she received her M.D. in 1975.

In 1976 Sister Jean began her overseas mission work, becoming General Medical Officer at Holy Family Hospital in Ghana, West Africa. In the late 1970s, she spent two years working Ethiopia, before returning to Ghana as the medical director at Holy Family Hospital. She returned to Philadelphia in 1992 and has remained active in health services, assisting with the Project Homeless Outreach Program Enrichment (HOPE) in New Jersey and serving as a teacher, services researcher and role model for young health professionals at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J.

ARCHDIOCESE

Materials for FOCA campaign from Family Life Office

The Family Life Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati will be assisting parishes with a campaign to speak out against the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which would create a "fundamental right" to abortion that the government could not limit. FOCA would overturn many existing policies, including laws protecting parental involvement and conscience right and those preventing partial birth abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion.

Materials from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops can be ordered by parishes through the Family Life Office. Such materials include postcard strips with three cards - one to each senator in the State of Ohio and one to an individual's congressional representative; these are addressed to Capitol Hill; educational and action flyers; and a parish instruction manual. All are available in Spanish or English.

This campaign will coincide with the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in January 2009.

For more information, contact the Family Life Office at 513-421-3131 or email mboyd@catholiccincinnati.org.