The legacy that women and men religious have had on this nation’s history, their continuing impact on people’s lives today, and the importance of thanking religious by supporting them in their retirement needs, was highlighted at the 37th annual Washington, D.C. Awards Gala for SOAR! (Support Our Aging Religious), held Nov. 1 at the Embassy of Italy.
At the gala, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Awards were presented to Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory and also to Lulu and Geoff Gonella, local Catholics known for their community service. The Father Bob Brown, OSFS Good Samaritan Award was presented to Sister Mary Bader, a Daughter of Charity who has served as the CEO of St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families in Hyattsville, Maryland, for the past 18 years and who later this year will be leaving that role to serve on her order’s Provincial Council in St. Louis.
Cardinal Gregory, who one day earlier had returned from participating in the month-long Synod of Bishops in Rome, expressed gratitude for his award, and praised the work of SOAR!, saying, “Thank you for seeing to the care of these essential members of our beloved Catholic Church, our senior religious. You do a magnificent work that is needed, respected and vitally important.”
Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Kathleen Lunsmann, the president of SOAR! – which was founded in 1986 by lay people to help meet the needs of aging Catholic sisters, brothers and priests – noted that thanks to people’s generosity, SOAR! awarded a record $3.2 million in grants to 116 religious congregations across the United States in this fiscal year. Those grants will benefit more than 7,600 senior religious men and women, with the funding meeting needs that include automatic doors, upgrades for accessibility, elevator upgrades and stair chairs, accessible vehicles, hospital beds, iPads to improve communication, acoustical upgrades to chapels, and meeting emergency needs like installing upgraded fire alarm systems and replacing broken generators.
Grants awarded by SOAR! to religious congregations in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington helped replace the lighting system for the Josephites in Washington, D.C., and helped purchase an accessible van for the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity in Silver Spring, Maryland. This year’s gala raised nearly $300,000 for SOAR!
Cardinal Gregory was introduced at the gala by Sister Sharon Euart, a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of the Americas who serves as the executive director of the Resource Center for Religious Institutes. She noted that then-Bishop Gregory while serving as the president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002 led the bishops’ efforts to address the clergy abuse crisis, and she praised the cardinal as a champion of social justice and a friend to women and men religious.
“Cardinal Gregory’s leadership, like that of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, focuses on caring for others, knowing that such service is God’s work,” she said.
Praising the work of SOAR!, Washington’s archbishop who is 75 said, “Believe me, I know the value of these seemingly small accommodations to aging or illness, because I’m getting there! It can be priceless when it comes to keeping a community together to simply be able to ensure one of their sisters is able to get to the dining room for meals, or that a brother can spend his evenings in an abbey sitting room because he can come and go with the aid of a lift chair.”
As he received the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Award, Cardinal Gregory praised that saint’s pioneering work and enduring legacy, saying she “changed the Church in this country with the schools, orphanages and religious community she founded.” The cardinal said religious communities continue that work in education and outreach to people in need today. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, known for her pioneering work that laid the foundation for the nation’s parochial schools, died in 1821, and in 1975, she became the first citizen of the United States to be canonized as a saint.
And while fewer religious are teaching in Catholic schools now, the cardinal noted that the role of religious in “teaching and forming us in faith has never stopped, it merely has taken new forms. More of you are staffing and managing social services agencies, operating hospitals, leading colleges or serving as administrators of parishes. Really, those tasks are contemporary amplifications of what St. Elizabeth Ann Seton accomplished.”
Cardinal Gregory – who was installed as the archbishop of Washington in 2019 and was elevated as the first African American cardinal the next year – noted the impact of the Adrian Dominican sisters who taught him at St. Carthage School in Chicago and who “helped my family shape my life, nurture my desire as an elementary schooler to become Catholic and then they walked with me in my enduring interest in becoming a priest.”
He said that over the years, many other religious congregations shaped his life, including the Religious Sisters of Mercy, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. “They have tried to make me a better man and a better priest, and their work is not over yet!” the cardinal joked.
Also in his remarks, Cardinal Gregory praised his fellow SOAR! honorees, noting the Gonellas’ “stellar contributions to various Catholic organizations and programs here,” and how Sister Mary Bader “has been a treasure for the many mothers and families who have encountered the love of Christ through her kind expertise and loving, longtime service here in Washington.”
In her introduction for Sister Mary Bader, Mary Armstead – a former member of the Board of Directors at St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families – said that in working with Sister Mary and witnessing her interactions with board members, staff, donors and the young mothers and children who call St. Ann’s home, “I often find myself referring to her as ‘my Sister Mary.’”
She added, “God deposited in her a compassionate heart for the poor and the underserved.”
After being greeted with a long standing ovation, Sister Mary Bader said, “If I have to accept an award, I’m very happy to accept one called the Good Samaritan Award.”
Sister Mary praised the generosity and service of the people at the gala, noting that like the good Samaritan, they are dedicated to offering a helping hand to people in need.
“It really is an award for each of you. We’re all in this together, we truly are,” she said.
The Daughter of Charity said that the aged religious being supported through SOAR! are likewise good Samaritans. “Tonight you’re doing something for the good Samaritans who cared for us, whether they were our teachers, whether they were our priests or brothers who helped us along the way and are helping others… That’s who we’re serving today. They’re the good Samaritans of years gone by,” she said.
Introducing Lulu and Geoff Gonella as recipients of SOAR!’s Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Award, Bill Whitaker – who formerly served as the founding president of the Washington Jesuit Academy – praised the couple as “an incredible shining light of good” and for making a profound difference in the community through their service.
“To whom much is given, much can also be given back. The Gonellas exemplify that,” Whitaker said.
The Gonellas are native Washingtonians and longtime members of Holy Redeemer Parish in Kensington. Lulu Gonella, the owner of a human resources consulting and executive coaching firm, is past president of the board of the Christ Child Society and a member of the business network board for Gonzaga College High School in Washington. She is also the past chair of the President’s Council of Catholic Charities DC, and a past volunteer for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Geoff Gonella serves as the president of Cornerstone, a Washington-based consulting firm he helped found that since 2002 has contributed more than $2 million to local and national causes, including SOAR! He is also the past president of the Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County, serves on the Board of Regents for the University System of Maryland, and is past chair of the board of the Washington Jesuit Academy and served on the board for Mater Dei School in Bethesda. He also coached Catholic Youth Organization teams at his parish.
As he and his wife accepted the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Award, Geoff Gonella noted the lofty credentials of their fellow honorees and quoted a classic “Sesame Street” song, “One of These Things is Not Like the Other,” as he joked that they were shocked to be honored alongside Cardinal Gregory and Sister Mary Bader.
In praising the work of SOAR!, Geoff Gonella said, “Any organization dedicated to ensuring the safety, dignity and vitality of our aging religious is worthy of our support.” The nation’s elderly sisters, priests and brothers are a group that “has given so much and has made so many sacrifices for the betterment of others and helped us all enrich our faith-filled journey,” he said.
As he concluded his remarks, Geoff Gonella praised the Washington-area community for supporting those in need, saying that community “understands we should use the gifts and talents that God has given us for the good” of others.
An opening prayer at SOAR!’s gala was offered by new Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States who returned from his recent consistory in Rome. He thanked the nation’s religious women and men, saying that “today we celebrate your long and fruitful lives.”
The event’s master of ceremonies, Frank Persico – the former vice president for university relations and chief of staff in the office of the president at The Catholic University of America – asked the religious sisters, brothers and priests in attendance to stand, and they received a long ovation. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your service,” Persico said.
(For information on SOAR! and supporting its outreach to the nation’s aging and infirm religious, go to www.soar-usa.org.)
