Sister Mary Maher elect world leader of SSND

By A.J. O’Connell
Stamford Times and The Hour

WILTON — Sister Mary Maher chose to become a nun at a tumultuous time in history. It was 1968, she was 18 years old, and while many of her contemporaries were becoming hippies, Sister Maher decided to enter the congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND).

"Yes, it was the time of the hippies and drugs, but it was also the time of the Peace Corps, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.," said Sister Maher, 57. "That made the quest for God more external."

Sister Maher's quest for God has spanned four decades, driven her to obtain a Ph.D. in theology, teach for 20 years as a college professor and accept provincial leadership positions in Wilton, and later, for the Atlantic-Midwest Province.

Now, as the sisters are again facing turmoil in the world, Sister Maher is accepting the highest leadership role possible in the SSND congregation. Last week, during a meeting of the SSND's General Chapter in Brazil, Sister Maher was elected Superior General of her order, putting her at the head of more than 3,700 nuns in more than 35 countries for the next five years. She will assume the post in January, replacing the current Superior General, Canadian Sister Rosemary Howarth.

"She really is the one for our times," said Sister Claire Bonneau, also a member of the General Chapter and a long-time friend of Sister Maher.

The SSND's General Chapter — a council of 79 elected representatives of provinces from all over the world — meets every five years to determine the direction, and the leadership, of the congregation for the next five years. The council also identifies the challenges faced by the order, said Sister Justine Nutz, a member of the General Chapter. The theme of this year's meeting, she said, was "responding together to the cries of the world and its peoples."

“It's the condition of the world; it's the condition of the planet; the lack of peace, the ecological crisis," said Sister Nutz. "Our response to the crises is education."
If education is the answer, Sister Maher is an apt choice as leader — the Long-Island native says she is proud of having been a teacher in her 39 years as a school sister. She taught at St. Saviours High School in Brooklyn in her first years as a sister, then at Villanova University and the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C. Leaving the Washington Theological Union in to become provincial leader of what was then the SSND's Wilton Province in 2001.

Although she had been nominated for the position of Superior General earlier in the year, Sister Maher, currently the provincial leader of the newly-formed Atlantic-Midwest Province, declined. She felt that her province, formed on Dec. 30, 2005, when the Wilton-based Northeast Province merged with the Baltimore and Chicago Provinces, was too new for her to leave it.

The congregation felt differently. When the General Chapter met in Brazil last month, said Sister Bonneau, Sister Maher's name came up again.

"It became very clear," said Sister Bonneau. "She has a natural gift for unifying people."

Sister Maher's gifts as a unifier became known when she was head of the school sisters' Wilton Province. When the SSND decided to restructure their organization, Sister Maher was one of the women who took the lead; merging three provinces — Wilton, Baltimore and Chicago into the Atlantic-Midwest Province. Sister Maher was elected as provincial leader for the new province.
"[I am proud of] keeping our sisters united as we went into the new province, doing it for the sake of the broader mission so we could use our resources more wisely in the future and focus on our assets," said Sister Maher. Merging the provinces was a challenge; all three provinces were several years old and many of the sisters were emotionally attached to their communities.

"Nobody likes change," said Sister Maher, "but sisters will do anything if its for the mission."

Sister Maher is illustrating that point by accepting her appointment as Superior General-elect. In January she will leave her home in Baltimore and travel to Rome, where she will lead the congregation for the next five years.

At a donor's breakfast in the school sisters' Wilton motherhouse on Sunday, Sister Maher visited her first congregation; her first stop after returning from her election in Brazil. Her reception there was bittersweet.

"I keep thinking that she's leaving us," said one sister.

Sister Bonneau, however, had a different perspective on Sister Maher's departure.

"She is being called by God," she said.

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