Interview with Mercy Sr. Mary Schmuck, parish social ministry coordinator for the Nazareth Office of Catholic Charities of Louisville, KY
by Sr. Camille D’Arienzo
SR. CAMILLE: You have long applied your many gifts to programs sponsored by Catholic Charities. How would you describe your ministry with that agency?
SCHMUCK: I collaborate with our Catholic Charities of Louisville staff based in Louisville, Ky.
This office promotes parish social ministry, especially among 47 Catholic parishes in 19 Kentucky counties organized into four archdiocesan regions. Such ministry can be considered a three-leaf clover: charitable outreach, faithful citizenship, and global solidarity.
SR. CAMILLE: What do you think enables you to do this work well?
SCHMUCK: I have the ability to “herd kittens, track goldfish, and be like that smiling Energizer bunny.”
SR. CAMILLE: What drew you to this work?
SCHMUCK: After I’d completed my time on our Sisters of Mercy Institute Justice Team, I sought a new ministry setting. A leader in the archdiocese of Louisville invited me to an interview for the position of parish social ministry coordinator with Catholic Charities of Louisville. The ministry fit very well with the call to respond to the five critical concerns identified by the Sisters of Mercy: sustaining Earth; walking in solidarity with immigrants; nonviolence; dismantling institutional racism; and the educational, health and spiritual needs of women….