• Professed 1962
• Current Ministry: Administrator and Professor at the Tepeyac Institute in El Paso, Texas

I entered the SSNDs in 1960 from a very small town in Wisconsin, quite timid and inexperienced. I taught grade school in several Wisconsin towns and really enjoyed it. About 1970, Mother Georgianne, our superior general, urged us to consider working more closely with the poor. In 1975, I had the opportunity to work with Black Baptists in a Catholic school in Mississippi. At that time, in Clarksdale, there were still two Catholic schools - one for white students and another for black students. It was wonderful to experience a different culture and see the joy that children took in education.

After ministering in Mississippi, I had the courage to think of myself as a missionary and asked to go to Latin America. I studied Spanish in Cochabamba, Bolivia and learned another worldview. I worked as a catechist in the altiplano of Bolivia at an altitude of 14,000 feet; complete with an outhouse! The people were hungry to learn about God and spread the good news to other villages. From there I went to Guatemala and ran an orphanage for 120 children, orphaned due to war by the military against the poor.

I came home to study at the Catholic Theological Union and received a Master's degree in Theological Studies. I worked with Puerto Ricans in Albany, New York, doing sacramental preparation, and paraliturgies in Spanish. While there, a priest I worked with who knew that I wanted further studies said, "Vianney, you can study in Rome and it's cheap." That's because the papal office subsidizes the universities. So I had a terrific time in Rome, while receiving a d octorate in Sacred Theology .

Today, I administer and teach programs at the Tepeyac Institute in the Diocese of El Paso. The adult formation programs are tremendous. Everyone in ministry is required to take 26 hours of theology. We have added another level of study, consisting of 12 courses, with each course 20 hours. We had to stop accepting registrations after we reached 130 people. The people here are serious about their faith and want to learn more. It is a pleasure to teach them.

I treasure my SSND life because education is my passion and I have been able to work with so many people who also want education and involvement in ministry. Even with its problems, our Church is a gift and a treasure. Here in El Paso, the Church is alive and the laity is committed. God has really blessed me in SSND. Come and see.

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