[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 24, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              A TRIBUTE TO THE FRANCISCAN SISTERS OF MARY

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                           HON. WM. LACY CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 24, 2015

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a remarkable 
and historic order of Catholic women called to the service of all God's 
children and his creation, the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, who have 
been at the forefront of healing the sick, fighting discrimination, 
advocating for equal rights under the law, and protecting the wonders 
of the natural world.
  Arriving from Germany in the winter of 1872, Mother Mary Odelia 
Berger and four other religious sisters crossed the icy Mississippi 
River by ferry to land on the St. Louis riverfront near the site of 
today's Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, better known as the 
magnificent Gateway Arch.
  They came to St. Louis seeking religious freedom and as a response to 
a call to serve the sick and indigent. Beginning with only five dollars 
among them, and armed with their resolute faith, they quickly deployed 
to the streets of our growing city to provide care to thousands 
suffering from tuberculosis, cholera and other epidemics of the time.
  St. Mary of Victories Church, at 744 S. 3rd Street would become their 
first home where they treated the poor suffering from small pox, 
diphtheria, typhoid fever and scarlet fever. As their patient load 
increased so did their numbers and they eventually became known as the 
Sisters of Mary because of their connection to the church.
  On May 24, 1877, the sisters opened their first hospital in a 
renovated home on Papin Street. During its first year, St. Mary's 
Infirmary treated 82 patients. Eventually, a newer and much larger 
facility was built on the same site.
  Mother Mary Concordia Puppendahl, the superior general of the Sisters 
of St. Mary from 1921 until 1956 believed that all persons deserved the 
best possible medical care regardless of their race, ethnic background 
or country of origin. At a time when educational opportunities lagged 
for women, Mother Concordia organized the congregation's first school 
of nursing in 1907.
  In 1924, Mother Concordia signed an agreement with Saint Louis 
University designating three facilities operated by the sisters (St. 
Mary's Infirmary, St. Mary's Hospital, and Mount St. Rose Chest and 
Throat Hospital) as teaching hospitals. In later years, Mother 
Concordia helped reorganize the St. Mary's Infirmary School of Nursing 
into the Saint Louis University School of Nursing. In 1933, St. Mary's 
Infirmary became the first Catholic hospital dedicated to treating 
African Americans and training African American physicians and nurses.
  In the 1960s, the sisters became very active in the civil rights 
movement, most notably Sister Antona Ebo, who marched shoulder to 
shoulder in Selma, Alabama with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and our 
heroic colleague, Congressman John Lewis (D) Georgia, to demand the 
right to vote for African Americans in Alabama, and across this 
country.
  On Wednesday, March 10, 1965, she and several other sisters and 
clergymen boarded a rickety airplane in St. Louis bound for Selma with 
several other sisters and clergymen to protest the Bloody Sunday attack 
on peaceful marchers and to join Dr. King in his second attempt to 
cross the bridge on the way from Selma to the state capital in 
Montgomery.
  Once there, Sister Antona, the only African-American sister in the 
crowd, found herself thrust to the front of the march. Before the 
marchers reached the end of the block, they were stopped by rows of 
helmeted policemen standing shoulder to shoulder, three deep, batons in 
hand.
  In the midst of it all, a microphone was thrust in front of Sister 
Antona. She spoke simply and from her heart into a sea of Confederate 
flags: ``I am here because I am a Negro, a nun, a Catholic, and because 
I want to bear witness.'' She later recalled, ``We wore our full 
regalia of habits at that time. We got a lot of people shook up who 
thought we should be in church with our hands folded.'' Many years 
later, she added, ``Selma happened really because it was the time and 
place to take a risk. Taking a risk has its payoff, too.'' Their 
courageous actions led to passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 
1965.
  The legacy of healing and devotion to building communities of 
compassionate care by the sisters inspired the development of SSM 
Health, a system of 19 non-profit Catholic hospitals, more than 60 
outpatient care sites, a pharmacy benefit company, an insurance 
company, two nursing homes, comprehensive home care and hospice 
services, a technology company, and two Accountable Care Organizations 
operating in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.
  And most recently, the sisters have added their moral force, 
spiritual guidance and integrity to the cause of environmental justice 
in North St. Louis County where neighborhood groups and civic activists 
are advocating for the removal of radiological waste left over from the 
Manhattan Project that was illegally dumped in an unlined landfill, 
near homes, schools, businesses and an underground fire.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge members of Congress to join me in honoring the 
Franciscan Sisters of Mary for their living example of faith in action 
to heal the sick, advocate for equality and preserve our environment 
for future generations.

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