Keynote Presenter

Sister Margaret “Peggy” O’Neill, SC, earned her bachelor’s degree from the College of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, New Jersey, her master’s degree from Marquette University, and her doctorate from New York University. As a theology professor, she taught at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York for 25 years.

Following visits to Central America in the early 1980s, Sister Peggy began serving in the Diocese of San Salvador in 1986, assisting refugees and accompanying them during the civil war that was raging in El Salvador at that time. In 2006, Sister Peggy began El Centro Arte Para la Paz, an educational and cultural center that promotes peace through dance, art and theological reflection, in Suchitoto, El Salvador, on the grounds of the historic Santa Imelda School and Convent. Through programs that strengthen cultural identity and unity within the community, teach skills to support self-sufficiency and critical thinking, promote environmental awareness, teach gender equality, explore nurturing spiritualties, and build bridges between cultures, the center has served tens of thousands of people since its opening.

While engaging volunteers and professionals in Suchitoto to get the Peace Center established, Sister Peggy traveled weekly to San Salvador, to teach men and women in various stages of religious and lay ministry formation through the Augsburg College’s Center for Global Education. She also participated with Santa Clara University’s Casa de la Solidaridad to both provided extended inclusion experiences as well as classes to students desiring a third world experience.

In October 2017, Sister Peggy was chosen as the speaker to the English-speaking contingent of the Vincentian Family gathered in Rome, Italy for the 400th anniversary of the founding of the charism of Charity. View video of her presentation.

Panelists

Sister Rejane Cytacki, SCL, has been a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth for 14 years. She was an elementary education teacher for 10 years, teaching second to sixth grade in public and Catholic schools in Kansas and Colorado before and after joining the congregation. She also served in campus ministry at the University of Saint Mary, a sponsored SCL ministry. She is currently the director of the Eco-Justice Center, a sponsored ministry of the Racine Dominican Sisters in Racine, Wisconsin.

Sister Lisa Laguna, DC, has been a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Province of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, for 16 years. Although a native of the Los Angeles area, she currently lives in the Bay Area of California. Sister Lisa is an educator by profession, with degrees in philosophy and education. She has had the joy of journeying with young people in discernment for the last nine years as vocation director for her province.

Sister Vivien Linkhauer, SC (Seton Hill) earned her bachelor’s degree in French from Seton Hill University and her master’s and doctoral degrees in French on an NDEA Fellowship from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. Her academic interests have included the French School of Spirituality and work on the Advisory Committee of the Elizabeth Ann Seton Writings Project of the Sisters of Charity Federation. For the past three years, she has served as the vice president for mission and identity at Seton Hill University.

After teaching students in the schools of the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Tucson, Arizona, Sister Vivien began a long tenure at Seton Hill University, where she taught French and served as academic dean and associate dean for graduate studies.

Sister Vivien served in congregational leadership for many years. She was first councilor and assistant major superior of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill from 1989 to 1997, and served as provincial superior/president of the U.S. Province from 2002 to 2012.

Sister Vivien also taught English to high school students at So-myong High School for Girls in South Korea, and worked as an intern for the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Archives.

Sister Hélène Allain, NDSC, has been a Sister of Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur for 30 years. She is presently the UN-NGO liaison for her congregation. She works full time as general director and facilitator for Village des Sources en Acadie, a youth spirituality center in Shediac Cape, New Brunswick, Canada. She previously worked as director of youth ministry for the Archdiocese of Moncton, and as a campus minister for the l’Université de Moncton, in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

A native of India, Sister Sangeeta Ayithamattam, SCN, is president of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. She has experience in leadership and in health administration. In India, she worked at three hospitals in Bihar and Delhi. She also ministered to the rural poor in Sokho, India. Sister Sangeeta has studied hospital administration at Spalding University and Xavier University, Cincinnati.

Sister Joan S. Dawber, SC (Halifax) is founder and executive director of LifeWay Network, where she works to establish safe housing for human trafficking survivors in the New York area and educate the general public on modern-day slavery.

In 2014, Sister Joan was awarded the St. John’s University Caritas Medal and was named as one of New York’s New Abolitionists, a group of activists, celebrities, politicians, and survivors who are committed to ending human trafficking in the 21st century. In 2015, Pax Christi Metro New York presented her with the Sister Christine Mulready Peacemaker Award, given to an individual whose works for peace and justice are helping to transform metropolitan New York.

Sister Joan graduated from St. John’s University with a BA in human services and an MA in theology. She also holds a master’s in pastoral studies from Loyola University. She is a former co-chair of the New York Coalition of Religious Congregations to Stop Trafficking in Persons, serves on the Sisters of Charity Global Concerns Resource Team, and is a board member of U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking.

Born in Angeles City, Philippines, Sister Romina Sapinoso, SC (Cincinnati) graduated from Ateneo de Manila University and was an elementary teacher in the United States for more than a decade. In 2015, she completed a master’s degree in international multicultural education at the University of San Francisco, California. Romina began her year of affiliation with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in September 2015, ministering as a fourth grade teacher at St. Matthew’s Catholic School in El Paso, Texas, and volunteering at the Santo Niño Project in Anapra, Mexico.

In August 2016, Romina became a canonical novice. During her novitiate, she taught English to refugees through Catholic Charities and volunteered at the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center in Cincinnati. At the conclusion of her apostolic novitiate, Romina served as a social emotional learning teacher for the International Refugee Resettlement program’s Summer Youth Academy in New York, New York. Most recently, she completed a three-month internship at the United Nations as part of the SC Federation NGO program.

Reflector

Sister Mary Sujita Kallupurakkathu, a Sister of Notre Dame, was born and raised in Kerala, South India and is a missionary in Bihar, North India. Sister Sujita received a master’s degree in social work and mass media communications in Bombay. She also studied micro credit enterprise development in England and spiritual direction in the United States. Sister Sujita lived and worked among the poorest of the poor in Bihar for many years. She was appointed to head a UN-sponsored project of the government of Bihar for the Education and Empowerment of Women and Girls in Bihar for eight years.

Sister Sujita was elected as the first Asian superior general of the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1998, and was re-elected for a second term in 2004. She spoke on the topic “Solidarity for Life on the Periphery” at the 2016 assembly of the International Union of Superiors General. In 2018, Sister Sujita was the reflector at the general assembly of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Bangalore, India. 

Facilitator

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Sister Pat Kozak, CSJ, is a member of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph. She has a doctor of ministry degree from the Pacific School of Religion of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and a master’s in religious studies from Saint Louis University.

Pat has taught high school theology and served in vocation and formation ministry. For 11 years, she worked as a pastoral associate and spiritual director and facilitated discernment and selection processes for religious congregations in the East Bay area of California. After returning to Cleveland, she served two terms in leadership for her congregation, concluding her leadership term when hers and six other congregations of Sisters of Saint Joseph united to form the Congregation of Saint Joseph.

With Sisters Marianne Race, CSJ, and Lyn Osiek, RSCJ, Pat served as team member for retreats/pilgrimages for women in the Holy Land, accompanying 14 groups of women over the past 13 years. She has been a member of the design team for Engaging Impasse: Circles of Contemplation and Dialogue™, serving as guide and program staff for the Engaging Impasse process and training seminar.

Pat is also a regular contributor to “Give Us This Day,” a publication of The Liturgical Press. With Sister Janet Schaffran, CDP, she co-authored “More Than Words: Prayer and Ritual for Inclusive Communities” and more recently was a contributor to the book, “Crucible for Change: Engaging Impasse Through Communal Contemplation and Dialogue,” edited by Sister Nancy Sylvester, IHM.

Pat currently works full time as a facilitator for religious congregations and other non-profits in Canada and the United States, as well as for a variety of discernment processes.

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