At Denver Catholic hospital, NFL stands for 'Nuns From Leavenworth'

Published: 2007-08-20

DENVER (CNS) -- "Quiet please. Let's go again." In the chapel at Exempla St. Joseph Hospital in Denver July 31, amid the lights and camera and cable and sound equipment, a director asks for another take. The crew is shooting part of a series of television commercials promoting the Denver Broncos football team that will air this fall. The director cues his performers. "We are from the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth," the trio says in unison. "And we are Bronco fans." Sisters Marie deLourdes Falk, Mary Rosenda Arkfeld and Marie Paula Hardy were selected by the Bronco organization to be featured in the promos, which will be shown on television and will be broadcast at the games. The nuns were a little amused at all the fuss over them but, being die-hard fans, they were also excited to be part of "their team." "This is a lot of fun," Sister Falk told the Denver Catholic Register, the archdiocesan newspaper. "I'm enjoying every minute of it. I started to cheer for the Broncos in 1977 and I just got hooked." The nuns and others in their religious community live on the 11th floor of the Catholic hospital, which is part of the nonprofit Exempla organization, co-sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kan., Health System.

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