 The Tri-Diocesan Sisters Leadership Conference, established in 1974, has reorganized its structure and changed its name to better reflect and expand the association’s representation of Catholic sisters in the region.
The organization, which will continue to provide a forum to advance Gospel values, is now known as the Catholic Sisters Leadership Council (CSLC) of Western Pennsylvania. The CSLC will foster relationship and mutual support, share information, engage in dialogue, exercise its collective voice and collaborate with one another and with others.
The Council will consist of representatives from communities ministering in the Western Pennsylvania region. The structure will include a Board of Directors and four officers, who are elected members of leadership in their communities.
New co-chairs of the CSLC are Sister Maria Fest, CDP, Assistant to the Provincial and Treasurer for the Marie de la Roche Province of the Sisters of Divine Providence, and Sister Susan Sisko, OSBM, a member of the leadership team and Monastery Director for the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great.
Sister Mary Norbert Long, SC, Provincial Councilor and Treasurer for the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, serves as secretary. Sister Benita DeMatteis, OSB, Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh,
is treasurer.
The organization was originally established to create a dialog among the communities as well as with dioceses where Sisters served. The collaborative work of the communities has resulted in major projects, including the establishment in 1993 of Sisters Place, a supportive housing ministry for single parent families, and, most recently, a documentary on immigration and a collective food drive during World Day for Consecrated Life. The collaborative group has conducted studies on religious life and sisters’ health care and taken public stances on war and immigration.
Photo Caption: Officers of the newly reorganized Catholic Sisters Leadership Council of Western Pennsylvania, from left, are Sister Benita DeMatteis, OSB, treasurer; Sister Susan Sisko, OSBM, co-chair; Sister Norbert Long, SC, secretary; and Sister Maria Fest, CDP, co-chair. (Photo: Barb Hecht) |
