CSJ is new VIP at SBSTM

Sister Katherine "Kitty" Hanley's message to Sister Rosemary Cuneo might well be, "Tag, you're it."

As Sister Rosemary takes over Sister Kitty's position on the diocesan Vocations Team (see separate story), Sister Kitty has moved on to become associate dean/associate professor of ministry studies for St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry (SBSTM), the Catholic graduate and professional school in the Diocese of Albany.

She succeeds Dr. Joseph Piccolino in that role.

Changes

Sister Kitty noted that this is a time of transition for St. Bernard's, which also has a new administrative assistant and director of special projects.

However, she said, the new job was "an easy transition" for her: A Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, she has spent much of her ministry in the education field. In the 1970s and '80s, she was dean of the graduate school and a faculty member at her alma mater, The College of Saint Rose in Albany.

Later, she spent eight years in St. Louis, serving on her congregation's leadership team, before returning to the Albany Diocese to teach at St. Bernard's and do vocations work. She has also served as spiritual formation director for SBSTM.

Vocations

Assessing her time on the Vocations Team, Sister Kitty said, "I believe we put wonderful energy into vocations awareness and education" in the Diocese.

Among her duties during her six-year stint were creating pamphlets on religious life, leading a discernment group for women considering a vocation, and speaking about religious life to parish groups within the Diocese and as far away as Rochester.

Along with team members Revs. James Walsh and David LeFort, she also helped to push the perspective that every life choice is a vocation: singlehood, marriage, and religious life as a priest, sister, brother or deacon.

"All of our printed material talks about the primary call [being] the call in Baptism to grow in union with God," she boasted. Rather than being urged toward a religious vocation, young people are now encouraged to ask themselves, "How can I serve God in a way that uses all my talents, energy and zeal?"

'Big picture'

Having advised students, found them spiritual directors and met with prayer groups in her duties as spiritual formation director for the school, Sister Kitty sees her new job as adding overall responsibility for curriculum, faculty, long-range planning and community relations -- what she calls "the big picture."

Her new goals include increasing enrollment, collaborating with other denominations and faiths (many of which already send students to SBSTM), and deepening "the sense of the real mission of St. Bernard's."

The title of "School of Theology and Ministry" is no accident, she explained: Theology is taught in order for students to use their knowledge to serve God's people through ministries.

"The goal is for everybody to be saying, 'As a result of my study, am I preaching God's word with deeper love?'" she said.

Technology

Her more down-to-earth goals include updating the school's website, www.stbernards.edu, and instituting videoconferencing.

SBSTM in Albany is actually an extension of the school's main campus in Rochester, where all students are required by New York State law to take one course. The new dean wants to give Albany students the option to audit more courses without driving to Rochester.

Sister Kitty noted that, although she is technically working for the Rochester Diocese, the Albany Diocese has been very supportive of SBSTM -- including offering financial aid to students and office space in the diocesan Pastoral Center.

"It's fascinating: Here we are, this little entity at the end of the hall, attached to the Albany Diocese but employed by the Diocese of Rochester. It's a really happy partnership," she said. "I have a real opportunity to serve in this capacity. It allows me to bring together the things I most treasure: faith experience, academic study and long-range planning."

(St. Bernard's will sponsor a day-long retreat on Oct. 1 at St. Joseph's Provincial House in Latham, titled, "Reading the Divine." Led by Sister Joanne St. Hilaire, CSJ, retreatants will "read and pray holy texts." Cost is $30. Call 453-6760.)

(8/25/05) [[In-content Ad]]