Elms College to Host Reading, Discussion on ‘Unruly Catholic Nuns’

CHICOPEE — Elms College will host a reading and discussion with Jane Morrissey on Thursday, March 15 at 12:15 p.m. in the Alumnae Library Theater.

Morrissey, the former president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield and a former member of the faculty at Elms, will read from and discuss her contributions to the book Unruly Catholic Nuns: Sisters’ Stories, edited by Jeana DelRosso, Leigh Eicke, and Ana Kothe (SUNY Press, 2017).

Unruly Catholic Nuns explores the voices of current and former Catholic nuns as they share their experiences with Catholicism, both in accordance and in conflict with the institutional church. In these women’s stories — told through fiction, poetry, and prose — we learn how they act out their missions of social justice, challenge cultural and governmental policies, and attempt to reconcile their unruliness with their religious orders and the strictures of the church hierarchy.

Morrissey, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, has been a crusader for peace, an author and scholar, and a teacher for more than 40 years. She is currently co-director of the Homework House of Hermano Pedro in Holyoke, which she co-founded in 2006, and has devoted many years to working with the poor in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Guatemala.

Morrissey served as president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield from 1999 to 2005, and has served as chair of their constitution committee. Prior to her leadership in the congregation, she was a pastoral minister at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield, director of the SSJ Office for Peace and Justice, a founding member and board member at Gray House, and a teacher at Elms College and Cathedral High School. She was a member of the Elms College board of trustees from 1999 to 2005.

This event is sponsored by Campus Ministry and students in the Sophomore Leadership Program, who will raffle off 15 copies of the book at the reading.