South Bend's Corpus Christi Parish says farewell to Daughters of Divine Charity

Retirement isn’t an option, according to Sister M. Carmella Chojnacki, 75. There is always more to do.

Sister Carmella and Sister M. Paula Krizancic, 83, are putting the final touches on packing as they leave Corpus Christi Catholic Church in South Bend. The two nuns have been in residence and on the faculty of the school since 2010.

The church will have a reception in their honor today from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Peterson Room in the school.

They are members of the Daughters of Divine Charity. Members of the congregation were formerly at St. Stephen, Our Lady of Hungary and St. Mary of the Assumption parishes. Corpus Christi was the congregation’s last assignment in the area.

The two nuns received word in the spring that they would be going to other assignments. Sister Carmella will be working in an assisted living home in Bloomfield, Mich., while Sister Paula will be going to Akron, Ohio.

Sister Paula is unsure of her assignment. “Perhaps I’ll be working in a kitchen or serving others. There are always dishes to do.”

Sister Carmella said things will be changing for her. Most recently she worked with small children in the school. Now she will be helping with seniors in their 90s.

The Rev. Daryl Rybicki, pastor at Corpus Christi, said the Daughters of Divine Charity have been a presence in the parish and school since it was founded in 1961. In fact they were part of the parish when it was first known as Sacred Heart Church, in downtown South Bend.

Sister Carmella and Sister Paula were not teaching full time. But “they were not strangers to our students and staff, as they would often substitute for our teachers and taught religious education on Sundays,” Rybicki said. “Their presence will certainly be missed.”

Carl Loesch, secretary for religious education for the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, said the “church and the community owes a tremendous debt to the sisters (and brothers) who staff our schools for generations. At the peak, 95 percent of the teachers in our Catholic schools across our nation were religious sisters and brothers, mostly sisters.”

Carl said there are about six sisters still in local Catholic schools this fall.

With dwindling membership of most orders, it is difficult to staff schools. Sister Carmella said leaving was not what they wanted to do but it was necessary. “No one wants us to leave but it has to be.”

There is more of God’s work around the corner.