Our Global Roots

The Sisters of the Presentation founded by Nano Nagle in 1775 has become a world-wide organization spanning 24 countries and six continents. The Dubuque foundation, stemming from Mooncoin in Ireland, has followed the lead of Nano in expanding its mission to Central and South America, Africa and Ireland.

Bolivia: 1970 – Present

The first foreign mission venture of the Dubuque Presentation Sisters got underway in August of 1970 with the commissioning of Sisters Maura McCarthy and Ileen Marie Sweeney to Bolivia. At the commissioning, Sister Helen Marie Feeney and Archbishop James J. Byrne bestowed on each a missionary cross. After language school in Cochabamba and living with a local Spanish-speaking family for a time, the two missionaries began their work in Ivirgarzama, Bolivia, an experimental parish sponsored by the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

Transferring to Entre Ríos in 1972, the sisters began having Sunday Communion services with the people and training catechists to continue Sacramental preparation and worship services in outlying regions. They later expanded their work to include an academy, a pharmacy, outreach to those in rural areas and advocacy for those lacking the identification papers needed to access government assistance.

Further expansion included work with the Guaraní tribes in Timboy. Having learned the language of the indigenous people, Sister Maura later wrote the history of the Guaraní people and their struggle to escape from the power of the rich land owners.

Casa Betania in Tarija recently became a house for university students to study and experience community life.

To date, in addition to the two founders, seven sisters have served in the Bolivian mission: Sisters Therese Corkery, Julianne Brockamp, Therese Marie Hawes, Marge Healy, Suzanne Takes, Mery Cari Paz and Janella Frankl.

Guatemala: 1990 – 2001

Sister Rita Menart fulfilled her dream of working with the oppressed when she went to Chupol, Guatemala, in 1990. She found that many people were poor and had suffered injustice from the wealthy landowners who had exploited the indigenous people, leaving them with nothing. With a companion, Sister Barbara Ford, BVM, Sister Rita began Sacramental preparation, and classes in Scripture reading. Development of church leaders was an especially important part of the ministry, since priests were available to say Mass almost every other week.

Sister Rita, later joined by Sister Marge Healy, worked with the uneducated, preparing catechists to continue the work of the church. A multitude of languages and dialects, along with wars and rebellions, made the ministry difficult. By 1995, the ruling military and the guerillas agreed to a truth commission which allowed people to tell their stories of death and loss of loved ones, giving the people a chance to mourn their dead with dignity.

Moshi, Tanzania, Africa: 1998 – 2001

The Theological Pastoral Center in Moshi, Tanzania, was the arena for Sister Diana Blong’s ministry of teaching missiology classes. The work was a three-year academic and pastoral program designed to prepare women religious of East Africa for leadership roles in the church, leading to a Missia Canonica certificate.

Sister Diana also taught English to the women who were candidates for the Holy Spirit Sisters, her hosts during her stay in Moshi. Used to the concept of being “on time” in her culture, Sister Diana was faced with the idea that “Time is not ours. Time just is.” She found a greater focus on person than on what is accomplished. Differences in food and the lack of consistent electricity, proved difficult in the beginning, and her ability to adapt was stretched.

Ballygriffin, Ireland: 2013 – 2014

Sister Jennifer Rausch returned to the place where it all began when she journeyed to Ballygriffin, Ireland, in the Blackwater Valley, the birthplace of Nano Nagle. A visitors’ center has been established there to “preserve the legacy, memory and message of Nano Nagle by promoting a place of peace, nourishment and healing in the modern world and promoting and practicing sustainable living and care of the earth.” The center includes historic buildings, walled gardens and the tomb of Nano Nagle.

Activities at the center range from greeting visitors, giving retreats and days of reflection, and passing on the heritage of Nano and the Presentation Sisters, to helping with organic farming.

Upon her return to Dubuque, Sister Jennifer brought with her a precious artifact: the door knocker from the house in Mooncoin from which Mother Vincent Hennessy had departed to bring the Presentation Sisters to Dubuque, Iowa, in 1874.

Photo: Left to right: Sisters Therese Marie Hawes, Therese Corkery, Maura McCarthy and Julianne Brockamp welcome their first jeep, making mountain traveling less arduous.