Thank You, Sister.

Peggy Garrity

I was privileged to have sixteen years of teaching by nuns of three different orders; School sister of Notre Dame for first through eighth grade at St. John Nepomuc , Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at St. Mary’s Academy High School, and Sinsinawa Dominicans at Rosary College. I cannot imagine those years without them. In St. John’s grade school, a single nun taught two grades together in a single classroom, somehow managing up to sixty-four kids at once while imparting essential lessons in a room where you could hear a pin drop. They coached us to compete in state spelling bees and win.
The FSPA nuns I had in high school showed me the importance of serious scholarship and the accomplishments in life which we as young women owed ourselves. It was here more than anywhere that I was moved by the cause of justice which ultimately led me to a thirty year career as a civil rights trial lawyer.
 These women have given so generously to hundreds of thousands of children over the years and it is truly offensive that the Vatican, which has taken their dedication for granted, sees it appropriate to now question their commitment to Catholic teaching.
I am grateful every day for the time I spent with these devoted and amazing women religious.