FROM THE CARDINAL

FALL 2019

FROM THE BEGINNING, WOMEN HAVE BEEN A MAJOR FORCE in Catholicism. Aside from Jesus, what greater force is there than our Blessed Mother, Mary, the chosen one of God?

Many influential women have followed her. St. Paul described women as equal members in the body of Christ, and throughout two millennia, they have been leaders, reformers, philosophers, teachers, scholars, healers, and founders of religious orders. Many are now saints to whom we turn for intercession in our times of greatest need.

There have been churchmen who discounted the value of women, belittling their contributions and questioning their qualifications as leaders and thinkers. Men are human and therefore fallible. Through the wisdom of God, only one human in all history has been born without sin, and that was a woman: Mary, the mother of our Lord.

We are privileged to live at a moment in history when more women than ever, from all walks of life, are gaining the acknowledgement they deserve for their contributions to our world. Accordingly, this October, the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner will recognize the leadership of women in its grantee organizations and, for the first time, honor a woman with the Happy Warrior Award: Mary Ann Tighe, a commercial real estate executive widely lauded for her dynamic business acumen, philanthropy, and extraordinary pro bono work.

In “Women of the Church,” Archways recognizes some of the many women who are changing and challenging our communities as religious sisters, educators, evangelizers, administrators, journalists, justice-seekers, health-care providers, and more.

Of course, our story does not claim to cover all of the important women of the archdiocese; to do that, we would need a very large book! The women featured here are not exclusive members of an elite club but, rather, stellar representatives of a much bigger group.

Elsewhere you’ll read about the latest developments in our Catholic schools, the services of our University Apostolate, the CYO Art and Essay Contest, the Catholic response to the migrant crisis at our southern border, and two magnificent pipe organs at our two cathedrals named for St. Patrick.

As our culture and society evolve, we as a Church will continue to face many challenges. Meeting those challenges will require the work of all people of goodwill: young and old, male and female. As this issue of Archways shows, so much heroic work is already being done by women of the Church.

Here’s to a fulfilling future walking together in the footsteps of Jesus.