Mary Lou Kilian

Church news – even in the North Country Catholic – often focuses on events around the world, in the country and across the diocese.

This week, we’re devoting four pages to the diocesan Foundation; next week will feature coverage of the diocesan Harvest Mass and the week after that, the annual diocesan financial report. We’ll also be reporting on the bishops’ annual meeting in Washington and our own bishop’s first ad limina meeting in Rome.

This is all important – and we hope, sometimes, compelling  - news, but we Catholics don’t really live our faith on a national or even diocesan level. For that we need our parishes. In our parishes, we pray together, meet God in the sacraments and follow the commands to feed the hungry, comfort those who grieve and teach our children. For the most part, diocesan programs are established to make sure that ministry can actually happen in the parishes.

That’s certainly the philosophy of Sister Donna Franklin, our Catholic Charities director. She recently brought a new Daughter of Charity to the diocese to serve as Parish Partnership Coordinator, to help parishioners find the resources they need to do the ministry they know needs to be done. Sister Mary Lou Stubbs is quickly finding her way around the diocese, spending the past couple of weeks meeting with each of the deans.

She comes to northern New York after decades of service in the southern United States. Most recently, she was executive director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Little Rock, Ark., but she’s happy to leave administrative work “and get my feet back on the ground.” “I love working with parishes,” Sister Mary Lou said. “The Gospel is lived at its closest possible level in the parishes. People in the parish know the needs of their community and they have the skills to address them. “Sometimes they just need help to find the resources to fill the gaps and that’s what I hope to do,” she said.

The native of Winnipeg isn’t afraid of the winter weather she’s about to face and is already impressed by the friendliness of the people she’s met in the diocese.

Here at the NCC, we add our words of welcome to all those she will hear in the coming months.

After all, a diocese can never have too many Mary Lous!

Daughter of Charity Sister Mary Lou Stubbs has joined the diocesan Catholic Charities staff as Parish Partnership Coordinator. She comes to the North Country after serving as executive director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Little Rock, Ark. In her new position, Sister Mary Lou will be traveling to parishes across the diocese to assist parishioners in establishing and expanding local ministries.