Sixty-nine leaders of the Sisters of Charity Federation of North America are gathering from June 1st to 5th, 2017 in Tarrytown, NY for their annual meeting. They represent two provinces of the Daughters of Charity and eleven congregations of Sisters of Charity in the United States and Canada.
Earlier in the day, several collaborative groups met, including the NGO Liaisons & Representatives, and Seton Heritage Ministries.
The Federation meeting opened on Thursday evening, June 1st, 2017 with greetings from Sister Jane Iannucelli, President of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York. Sister Jane spoke of the theme “Hazard Yet Forward: Futuring Charity Together” as an invitation to “cross over the bridge to the future we are creating together.”
Sister Jane gave a “deep, heartfelt welcome” to Sister Rosemary MacDonald, General Superior of the Congregation of Saint Martha, Prince Edward Island, the newest member of the Federation, and acknowledged Sister Grace Hartzog, Sister of Charity of Seton Hill, the incoming Federation Executive Director. Sister Jane thanked Sister Mary Ann Daly, SCNY, Federation Executive Director 2006-2011 and Sister Julie Cutter, DC, Federation Executive Director 2011-2017 for their leadership.
In a candle-lit opening prayer ritual, congregational leaders entered with a lamp of charity. Each delegation stood, acknowledged their members and staff in attendance, and shared a prayer for a particular need of the congregation to carry the charism into the future. Each prayer was met with the response of “hazard yet forward” from the audience.
The evening concluded with a talk by Sister Mary McCormick, SCNY, who shared the stories of the first three Sisters of Charity who came to New York from Emmitsburg, MD in 1817. In 2017 the Sisters of Charity of New York are celebrating 200 years of presence in New York.
