Diocese to get three sisters from Mexico

Published: November 14, 2014

Three sisters from the Catholic Teachers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Maestras Católicas del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús) religious order will begin their ministry at St. Augustine Church in Dardanelle and St. John Church in Russellville in January. 

Bringing the Mexican order to the Diocese of Little Rock was made possible through the Catholic Extension’s U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program. The program is funded by an initial $3 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The program will span five years and involve 10 Latin American congregations, sending more than 30 women religious to dioceses throughout the United States. Sisters Maria Magdalena Esparza de Lira, Mayela Baez Briones and Maria Guadalupe Zamarripa Puga will be working in Arkansas.

The program continues through 2019 to create a partnership for the Latin American congregations and U.S. dioceses. The sisters participating in the program will receive intensive pastoral leadership training and gain ministry skills that will help them build up and strengthen the faith of the people they serve. To find contact information for the Catholic Teachers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus sisters in Arkansas, visit our Religious Order Directory.