Dominican Sister of Peace Peggy Martin, O.P. Retirement Announcement
Dear Representatives and Major Superiors:
Sister Peggy Ann Martin, OP, Executive Vice President of Sponsorship and Governance, a guiding light in the formation of both CommonSpirit Health and Catholic Health Initiatives, has decided to start the next chapter of her life and retire at the end of June 2020. Lloyd Dean and I are honored to have served alongside Sr. Peggy and have learned much from her about our sacred scriptures, canon law, and diplomacy. Please join us in celebration of her indelible legacy.
A true visionary, Sr. Peggy was a member of the steering committee that founded Catholic Health Initiatives in 1996. She was instrumental in uniting four healthcare systems under Catholic Health Care Federation, the public juridic person first developed by Catholic Health Corporation in Omaha. A public juridic person allows an entity to operate within canon law similar to how public corporations operate within civil law. She helped define how to honor the Church, healthcare, and law in fulfilling the mission of our founding congregations.
USA

March 12, 2020 – Blazing Sun Independent Film Shorts Festival awarded its highest honor—the Poetic Pearl Award—to seven film shorts, five foreign films and two from the United States, which were among 16 films screened March 4-5 at Rio 7 Cinema-Kingsville.
We are happy to announce that the long-awaited Dominican Charism on-line learning platform will be launched Easter Monday, April 13th with the activation of the first two modules. Sr. Connie Schoen, OP shares the story of “The Life, Spirit and Mission of St. Dominic.” “The Call to Preach” module involves sessions by Sr. Sara Fairbanks, OP, Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, Sr. Angela Mwaba, OP and Sr. Megan McElroy, OP. This module also includes short video clips of diverse members of the Dominican family and video clips focused on the preaching of the community of Barry University, the Sisters of Peace, the Summit Nuns in New Jersey, the Racine Dominicans, and the Maryknoll Sisters. An additional video by Sr. Barbara Schwarz, OP focuses on preaching through the arts.
On Tuesday, March 10th, Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny visited St. Dominic Convent to recognize both the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt and the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill with a Proclamation that formally deemed March 8th – 14th as Catholic Sisters Week in Orangetown, as well as recognized both Congregations for their impact of society. Sisters Mary Ann Collins, Mary Flood, and Ellenrita Purcaro accepted the Proclamation on behalf of Blauvelt, while Sisters Mary Murray and Irene Ellis accepted on behalf of Sparkill.
