*Please note - articles are alphebetized by the subject of the biography
Robert T. Bapst: Catholic Educator and Public Schoolmaster
Paul Nochelski, S.J.
Canisius College
(pp. 173-182) Vol. 3 No. 2, Dec 1999
Over the course of 40 years in the public schools of Buffalo, New York, as principal and superintendent, Robert Bapst earned a reputation as efficient and forward-thinking. His leadership skills first received attention at South Park High School where, as founding principal, he created an environment noted for academic excellence, student development, and good citizenship. What is unusual about Bapst’s tenure was his ability to integrate his Catholic beliefs with the goals of public education. Jesuit-educated, Bapst stressed personal concern for the individual, community-building, and service to others as hallmark Christian values to be integrated within the life of the school. He saw no conflict of interest in this for the church and state cohabited, happily. Evidently his constituents concurred since the records contain no serious challenges to his program.
Dorothy Day: Student of the Moral Life, Educator for the Moral Life
Sandra Yocum Mize
University of Dayton
(pp. 176-190) Vol. 1, No. 2; Dec 1997
Dorothy Day (1897-1980), convert to Catholicism and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, exemplifies both the educator and student of the Christian moral life. Her own development highlights the extraordinary importance of the ordinary aspects of daily living in the formation of the morally committed Christian.
Katharine Drexel: Learning to Love the Poor
Cecilia Murray, O.P.
Dominican Sisters of Hope, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, New York
(pp. 307-319) Vol. 9 No. 3; March 2006
Although born into privilege, Katharine Drexel was blessed with parents, siblings, friends, and spiritual guides who kept her rooted in a deep, Eucharistic faith. Responding to the needs of the poor was a responsibility of the rich, and Katharine learned this value at the hands of her parents at an early age. With the good counsel of popes and bishops, family and friends, she ultimately used her great family wealth to provide education for the poor.
Religious Education in the Prophetic Voice: The Pedagogy of Eileen Egan
Linda L. Baratte
College of Saint Elizabeth, New Jersey
(pp. 198-214) Vol. 9 No. 2; Dec 2005
This article offers an overview of the life and work of Eileen Egan, a contemporary and passionate Christian leader whose values can inform religious education today. Peace educators, social activists, service learning directors, and Catholic political leaders have much to learn from her example and zeal.
Sr. Lucille Kalinowski: A Spiritual Biography
Ann Meese
Immaculate Conception Grade School
(pp. 384-387) Vol. 1 No. 4; June 1998
The author, a principal in the diocese in which Sr. Lucille Kalinowski served as superintendent, reflects on Sister’s spirituality, sensitivity, and simplicity along with her impact on the administrators with whom she worked.
Thomas Merton’s Spirituality of Education
Thomas Del Prete
Clark University
(pp. 157-180) Vol. 5 No. 2; Dec 2001
Thomas Merton was one of the greatest spiritual writers and mentors of our time. This article mines the extensive Merton corpus with a view to education. Three stages are explored in articulating Merton’s spirituality of education: 1) understanding what we are; 2) becoming what we are; and 3) realizing our fundamental unity. Merton’s letters, books, and lectures are cited, analyzed, and compared in an effort to uncover the stages of Merton’s own spiritual journey and to provide a helpful model for today’s educational leaders.
Mother Stephanie Mohun, O.P.
Ruth Caspar, O.P. & Rosalie Graham, O.P.
Dominican Sisters, St. Mary of the Springs
(pp. 346-359) Vol. 9 No. 3; March 2006
It is often stated that Catholic schools in the US were built on the foundation of the poverty of the vowed women religious. Dozens of communities fit this description, none more so than the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs. Sister Stephane Mohun’s service as mother general spanned a period of tremendous growth in Catholic education at every level. Seeing to the ongoing education and professional preparation of the sisters, Mother Stephanie founded colleges, staffed schools, established missions, and provided leadership for Catholic education that continues to have an enduring legacy today.
Vincentian Education and the Charism of St. Vincent de Paul
Anthony J. Dosen, C.M.
DePaul University
(pp. 47-57) Vol. 9 No. 1; Sept 2005
St. Vincent de Paul is a popular saint in the contemporary practice of Catholicism. This article explains why, providing a historical overview of the many influences in Vincent’s life and demonstrating how central Vincentian themes can be incarnated in educational institutions. Vincent’s passion—love of the poor—remains a compelling challenge today.
Sister Mary Emil Penet, I.H.M.: Founder of the Sister Formation Conference
Joan Glisky, I.H.M.
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Archives, Monroe, Michigan
(pp. 360-376) Vol. 9 No. 3; March 2006
Mary Emil Penet, I.H.M., (1916-2001) used her talents and charisma to shape the first national organization of American women religious, the Sister Formation Conference (SFC; 1954-1964), facilitating the integrated intellectual, spiritual, psychological, and professional development of vowed women religious. In the decade preceding Vatican II, her leadership generated a renewal among religious communities focusing first on preparing young sister teachers, then sisters of all ages, whatever their ministries. Her educational contributions affected sisters’ development and ministries, their contribution to Vatican II aggiornamento, and later touched the lives of female college students, seminarians, and Catholic laity.
Historical Perspectives on Elizabeth Seton and Education: School Is My Chief Business
Betty Ann McNeil, D.C.
Daughters of Charity Archives, Emmitsburg, Maryland
(pp. 284-306) Vol. 9 No. 3; March 2006
Elizabeth Ann Seton—the first native-born U.S. citizen to be canonized—and her passion for education are the subjects of this historical essay. Implications for contemporary educational leaders are also discussed.
Catharine Spalding: Co-Foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth
Mary Angela Shaughnessy, S.C.N.
Spalding University
(pp. 334-345) Vol. 9 No. 3; March 2006
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN) maintain a vibrant presence in ministry in the U.S.. This article presents an overview of their co-foundress, Catherine Spalding, and shows Mother Catherine to be the creative, mission-driven, and articulate leader that is still very much in need in today’s society.
John Lancaster Spalding (1840-1916): A Catalyst for Social Reform
Lucinda A. Nolan
The Catholic University of America
(pp. 178-197) Vol. 9 No. 2; Dec 2005
The life and work of John Lancaster Spalding focused on the importance of Catholic ideals of life and education in the development of the human person and society in order to fit them to the high purpose of participating in God’s reign on earth and preparation for humanity’s ultimate end—eternal life with God. Following a brief biographical introduction, this article addresses the central themes of Bishop Spalding’s social thought and proposes that his attempts to articulate a Catholic perspective on social justice issues of his time were among the earliest in the United States. The article concludes by focusing on the importance of the role of education in Spalding’s social thought and proposes some implications for the teaching of peace and justice today.
Sister M. Madeleva Wolff, C.S.C.
M. Loretta Petit, O.P.
University of Dayton
(pp. 320-333) Vol. 9 No. 3; March 2006
Sister M. Madeleva Wolff, C.S.C., teacher, essayist, poet, and college administrator, through her creative ability and innovative practices made possible major contributions to Catholic education in her lifetime. Without her strong personality and boundless energy, many of her dreams for an ideal college curriculum would not have come to fruition. Her most significant legacy, the Graduate School of Theology, afforded for the first time the opportunity for the laity and religious women to study theology at the graduate level. She served as president of St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, from 1934 to 1961.