LCWR Region 10 Honors BVM Sisters for Life-Changing Ministries

BVMs Letitia Close (l.), Second Vice-President Anne Marie McKenna, President LaDonna Manternach, First Vice-President Kathy Kandefer, and Mary Gene Kinney.

During a powerful evening of story, Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) Region 10 (Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska) honored the ministry of BVM Sisters Mary Gene Kinney and Letitia Marie Close.

Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) hosted the event. BVM President LaDonna Manternach says the honor has long been anticipated by anybody familiar with Mary Gene and Letty’s work in the field of addiction and recovery.

“Region 10 has been a big supporter of both these women,” she says. “They saw that they deserved to be honored. As the years have gone by, we knew we wanted to get something done before they weren’t here to see it.”

Recognizing a need for support and education, Mary Gene and Letty spearheaded 12-step meetings held with members of the BVM Congregation. As word spread, other religious communities started making inquiries. Information was brought to LCWR on the national level, and the Inter-Congregational Addictions Program (ICAP) was born out of that movement.

Mary Gene and Letty founded ICAP in 1979, creating an outreach service for women religious based on Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program.

“It was about education and the communal aspect of support,” Mary Gene says. “It was about removing the stigma of alcoholism and educating people about it being a disease, not a choice.”

Mary Gene and Letty visited hospitals and clinics, learning as much as they could about individual programs so that they could refer women religious to places where they could receive treatment.

The program expanded to include support for addictions other than alcohol ­­— it has found success for those who have experienced issues with drugs, food, gambling, and overspending.

In 1986, the director of Guest House, a residence for men religious in recovery in Orion, Mich., reached out to ICAP for information on starting a program for women religious.  Understanding that women approached their addictions and recovery differently than men, Letty created an advisory board to help Guest House as they underwent this transition, which came to fruition in the early 1990s. She would also serve on the Board of Directors.

Luann Brown, BVM, an addiction therapist, has been a member of ICAP since 2006 and is currently working at Guest House. Women religious, Luann says, often feel alone and hopeless in the disease of addiction.

“One of the great things Mary Gene and Letty have done over the years is to normalize addiction as a disease that people, sisters, everybody in all aspects of society have,” Luann says. “And there is a way to recover.”

The theme of “Hope” was woven throughout the evening, as women religious and former women religious told their stories of how Letty and Mary Gene touched their lives.

Letty and Mary Gene were instrumental in helping Guest House Launch their women’s program. They also support Transfiguration House in Lviv, Ukraine. Both facilities treat women and men religious.

“There are so many women who have benefited from Letty and Mary Gene’s work,” Luann says. “I don’t think we can even count how many.  They are two beloved women —pilgrims and prophets, passionate, persistent, perceptive, pragmatic, and playful witnesses.”

Vice President of the Dubuque Franciscans Maureen Leach, OSF, chair of Region 10, presented donations to Guest House and Transfiguration House in honor of Mary Gene and Letty.

“When Region 10 decided to honor these two wonderful women, we asked them, ‘What can we do to honor the valuable service that you have provided?’” Maureen says. “They said, ‘Give a gift to Guest House and a gift to Transfiguration House.’”

The spirit with which Mary Gene and Letty were honored was encapsulated in the words of a Benedictine sister, a Franciscan sister, and a former woman religious. The latter echoed the thanks of countless people who have been helped through ICAP:

“[German theologian] Meister Eckhart once wrote, ‘If the only prayer you ever say your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.’ On behalf of generations of recovering women, thank you.”