IHMs Explain Reasons for Withdrawal from Cathedral School

By Ann M. Augherton
^{HERALD Managing Editor}

"We will miss your children and our happy home here on Thomas St. It is no easy task to uproot after 52 years. Our Sisters are the loser in this," said Sister Irene Loretta, Council Member of the I.H.M. Congregation. She was referring to the announcement that the I.H.M. sisters will withdraw from the Cathedral of St. Thomas More School next June.

Nearly 300 people gathered at the school hall last Thursday evening to hear the news firsthand from the I.H.M.s. What had been told to them earlier in a letter and through parish bulletin announcements, became a two-hour dialogue between concerned parents and the I.H.M.s, now forced to explain what influenced their decision.

"Statistics and future statistics indicate that God is saying something to us in our history," said Superior General Sister Marie Angela, I.H.M. "God has been very good to us. There has never been a year that we did not welcome young women.

"The numbers entering today don’t compare with the numbers entering 30 to 35 years ago when we opened school after school," she said. In addition to fewer new vocations, the order must deal with three to four deaths each year.

"We are not leaving Catholic schools to branch off into other apostolates," Sister Irene Loretta said. "We simply don’t have the personnel to staff the number of schools to which we are committed.

"We are in a crisis now," she said. "We may have made a mistake. We should have done this earlier." In the past three years, the I.H.M.s have withdrawn from 40 schools. In the next three years, they will withdraw from 45 schools at the rate of 15 per year.

The vocations statistics support the Sisters’ explanation. In 1980, there were 749 sisters teaching fulltime in 139 elementary schools. Ten years later, 405 served in 131 schools. This year 180 fulltime teachers staff 100 schools.

"We have never left a school with major problems," Sister Irene Loretta said. The Sisters determined that the Cathedral school would be self-sufficient and able to continue with lay leadership.

"We are passing the baton to the laity and we feel 100 percent (confident) that they are ready to run with it," she said, adding that the retention rate for teachers and students at all of the schools from which they have withdrawn is nearly 100 percent.

Sister Patricia Helene Earl, assistant superintendent of schools for secondary education, pointed out that of the 35 diocesan elementary schools, 25 are staffed by lay principals.

Father Dominic P. Irace, rector of the Cathedral, agreed saying that of the six parishes to which he has been assigned since his ordination, only St. Thomas More School was staffed by sisters.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the school will flourish and do well," he said.

Sister Irene Loretta thanked the parish for its support from the days of Msgr. Arthur J. Taylor to Father Irace, and the school’s teachers and staff, saying, "We have been blessed by a great history of great teamwork."

"The mission here at St. Thomas More is done, but our leaving doesn’t mean it is ended," Sister Marie Angela said.

"There is no substitute for Catholic education," Sister Irene Loretta said.

"We believed in faith that we would stay as long as we could," Sister Marie Angela said. "We have to preserve our vitality. We must stabilize the economy of our own households," she said.

"We don’t have enough needed teaching personnel to sustain a viable community life for our Sisters," Sister Irene Loretta said.

"We hope I.H.M. lasts forever, if that is God’s will," Sister Marie Angela said.

Parents expressed their anger and sense of loss at the news of the nuns leaving, by pointing out that the Sisters minister to the families, as well as the students. Others expressed concern over being involved in the search process to find a new principal.

Sister Carmel Regina Shields, I.H.M., principal, received a standing ovation as Sister Irene Loretta, said she "dwarfs any C.E.O."

"I have seen many wonders during her tenure," Father Irace wrote in a letter announcing the withdrawal. "I could not have asked for a better or more dedicated principal."

As assistant superintendent of schools, Sister Patricia will be an integral part of the team which will find a new principal. She taught as a lay person at the Cathedral school prior to her joining the order, so she has a professional and personal interest.

The search committee will include a team from the parish, the school and the diocesan schools office. In addition to the diocesan reference check and several interviews, Sister Patricia said the candidate will need to be aware of the inherent problems associated with a transition to a lay-run school.

"In the name of all I.H.M.s, thanks for entrusting your treasures to us over the past 52 years," Sister Irene Loretta said. "We have been so enriched and so inspired by your children."

"We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the beautiful people of Northern Virginia," Sister Marie Angela said. She promised the congregation’s prayers for the past, present and future students, and asked for prayers for the Sisters in return.

"You must know we love you," Sister Marie Angela said. "You are our very existence. When people love one another that love is forever.

Copyright ©1997 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.