Maureen Chicoine, rscj, was installed October 31 as pastoral coordinator of two parishes in San Bernardino, California. Some called it “the future of the church,” according to a report by Sally Furay, rscj, who attended the event. “This is the future of the church and we are on the cutting edge, “ said a Religious of the Sacred Heart who attended the installation ceremony on October 31, 2004, for Maureen Chicoine, rscj, as pastoral coordinator of Christ the King and Our Lady of Fatima parishes in San Bernardino, California.

Dear Mr. President, I am writing you as the national leader of a congregation of Roman Catholic sisters, the Society of the Sacred Heart. We are an international religious order of women with 3,500 sisters in 45 countries worldwide. Our sisters work in universities, secondary and elementary schools; with handicapped children and adults; in popular education centers in rural and urban areas; with migrants, indigenous people, and refugees; in parishes and retreat centers; in prisons; in advocacy work, especially with women and children; as teachers, administrators, lawyers, nurses, doctors, artists, writers, therapists, pastoral counselors, spiritual directors, and social workers. Our mission is to discover and reveal God's love in the heart of the world.

U.S. Veterans Day and the 147th birthday of Janet Stuart!
Dear Friends, Colleagues and Associates of the Society,  I want to provide for you a first hand account of what happened at the Society's Open Assembly November 3-7, though I am so aware that we actually had four different simultaneous gatherings with a lot of commonalities and a lot of differences. So this is a report of the whole colored by my participation with the Chicago, Omaha, Detroit, and St. Louis/St. Charles Area RSCJ.

Judith Garson, rscj, received the Spirit of Service Award from St. John's University at the annual President's Dinner, held at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan on October 28. Sister Garson has serves as executive director of Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service in East Harlem since 1996. In presenting the award, the Rev. Donald J. Harrington, president of St. John's University, said, “Sister Judith has become a well-known and beloved figure in the East Harlem community, a beacon of hope to many, especially new immigrants and those marginalized by society, providing spiritual comfort and practical assistance in a broad spectrum of areas.”

Sister Kathleen Hughes has been named the recipient of the 2004 Frederick R. McManus Award for her contributions to Catholic liturgy. The award, which is given annually, will be presented October 15 in Orlando at the annual meeting of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions.

Sister Mary T. Clark received the distinguished alumna award from the Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Bryn, Mawr, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 17. Further, a book of St. Augustine's letters has been dedicated to Sister Clark, “great friend, scholar and religious,” by Ronald Teske, S.J., of Marquette University.