Retiring USCCB official awarded Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross

Published: 2006-03-01

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Mercy Sister Lourdes Sheehan, who is retiring from her post as an associate general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has been awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross by Pope Benedict XVI. A Feb. 23 USCCB announcement on the papal award said it was presented to her Jan. 27 at the conference. She will retire in March. She was recommended for the award, which means "for church and pontiff" in English, by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington. "Sister Lourdes Sheehan has given exemplary service to the Catholic Church," he said in a statement, citing her work with the USCCB, the University of Notre Dame, the National Catholic Educational Association, and her religious community, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Sister Lourdes is completing a five-year term as USCCB associate general secretary. She also served twice as the U.S. bishops' secretary for education.

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