Honoring Women of Faith
By Renee Webb, Globe associate editor
Posted March 7, 2002

The centennial year of the Diocese of Sioux City was viewed by various women's organizations as an ideal time to honor women who helped shape the families, parishes and communities of the diocese.

Through a project titled Honoring Women of Faith, parishioners were asked to nominate women, living or deceased, who made contributions within the diocese. Names of women and a brief description of their unique qualities were submitted and will be published in a Book of Remembrance.

"We have 3,000-plus names that were sent in by women and men," said Marilyn Murphy, social concerns facilitator of the diocese. Organizers of the project were pleased with the number of names submitted.

Honoring Women of Faith was co-sponsored by the Association of Women Religious, the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women and the Commission on Women in Church and Society. They were inspired to undertake this project by comments of Pope John Paul II on the history of women.

Murphy pointed out that submissions were quite diverse.

"Because we were talking about women who had shaped their lives in parishes and communities, many names of mothers were sent in but they were not always their own," she explained.

The distinguishing characters that were often mentioned were faith, motherhood, grandparenting, and work at the parish level in performing the ordinary tasks such as cleaning the church and taking care of the altars.

"Very little mention was made of activities outside of the parish," said Murphy. "Leadership was mentioned often - usually in terms of parish-based organizations."

Some submissions included descriptions of the women that were longer than space in the book allowed, but this information will be sent to archives.

This remembrance began with a formal announcement on Aug. 15, 2001, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The project was publicized through direct mailings to individuals, parishes, diocesan organizations and religious communities. The naming form was frequently published in The Globe. Deadline for submitting names was Feb. 1.

"Some of the religious communities responded with a complete list of the sisters who have served in the diocese from 1884 on. It went back to the early beginnings of the church in northwest Iowa," said Murphy.

All women of faith, living and deceased, named and unnamed, who are part of the church community in northwest Iowa will be remembered in a Mass offered at 7 a.m. on April 8, the Feast of the Annunciation, at the Carmelite Monastery in Sioux City.

"Each parish will receive a list of the names that were identified with that parish for remembrance at their parish Mass on or near April 8," she explained. The Feast of the Annunciation is the anniversary of the Jubilee Day for Women that the pope declared during the jubilee year.

Every present parish and some of the closed parishes and missions of the diocese are represented. When submitting names, some provided a blanket statement such as "to all women who ever worked a turkey dinner or church bazaar."

The Honoring Women of Faith Book of Remembrance, 195 pages, is available for $10. A shorter version, parish-specific booklet that contains only the names of women identified with the parish is available for $3. For more information contact Catholic Charities at 712-252-4547 or send your check to Catholic Charities, 1601 Military Rd., Sioux City, IA 51103.