Sister Dianna Higgins, FMIJ, speaks with students about the developmental stages of a baby in the womb during a class Jan. 21 at Paul VI High School, Haddonfield. (Dave Hernandez)
Sister Dianna Higgins can recall first-hand how the presence of religious women in the classroom can impact students.
Sister Dianna, FMIJ, who has taught religion at Paul VI High School, Haddonfield, for 13 years, recalled receiving an email from a sophomore whom she had never taught. The young man wanted to interview her because he had never met a nun and wanted to write an article about what it was like to be one.
“A lot of the kids have never been taught by sisters before,” she said, explaining that the student reaching out was a good example, that “kids want to know about the faith and they want to know about our life. Anything they ask about our life and our vocations, I stop and answer. They don’t have a lot of opportunity to hear from someone living this life, and they honestly have good questions.”
Sister Dianna is among many women religious in the Diocese who acknowledge the benefits Catholic school students receive from interacting with religious men and women on a daily basis.
Sister Sheila Murphy, a Sister of Saint Joseph of Chestnut Hill for 63 years, recalled that “Different Where It Counts” was the theme of the first Catholic Schools Week, established in 1974.
“I loved that theme, and I think it’s true,” she said, noting that the SSJ sisters who taught her had a “tremendous influence” on her own faith development and vocation. “I always wanted to teach because of how they taught me.”
When a recent illness sidelined Sister Sheila, who taught every elementary grade before becoming principal of Wildwood Catholic High School (now Wildwood Catholic Academy), she “got a whole package of cards with lovely sentiments” from former students.
She sees that outreach as but one example of how building long-lasting connections with students can be “the greatest vehicle for passing on the faith. I always think of that quote that faith is ‘one generation away from extinction’ – if we aren’t careful. I think [nurturing the generations] is extremely important.”
For Sister Mary Lou Cardenas, who entered the Missionary Daughters of the Most Pure Virgin Mary 46 years ago, it’s been a long journey from where she was born in Mexico to Texas, Washington state, Saint Peter Parish in Merchantville – where sisters of her order came at the behest of Father Anthony Manuppella – to Vineland, where she teaches Spanish at Bishop Schad Regional School.
Along the way, she remembers encountering students whose only experience of religious sisters was watching the movie “Sister Act.”
“It was unreal at first. They had never been around sisters,” she said. But their families had. “To them, it was like a miracle that we were here. They had been asking for a school with sisters.”
Sister Mary Lou said the sisters at Bishop Schad are committed to helping pass on a “good, solid education, where the children can learn about the Catholic religion and grow in faith.”
“Things aren’t easy for them,” she said, explaining that many in the school come from low-income families and other countries. “But through education and support, they are learning.”
One of those lessons students are getting from the sisters, she added, “is that we are going to respect and love each other.”