Gulf Pine Catholic VOLUME 34 / NUMBER 1 SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 Murdered Nuns Recalled for Their Generosity, Service in Mississippi
Gulf Pine Catholic VOLUME 34 / NUMBER 1 www.biloxidiocese.org SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 Murdered nuns recalled for their generosity, service in Mississippi Sister Margaret Held, 68, a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee, and Sister Paula Merrill, 68, a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky, are pictured in undated photos. The two women religious were found stabbed to death Aug. 25 in their Durant, Mississippi, home, police said. CNS photo/School Sisters of St. Francis and Sisters of Charity of Nazareth the death penalty that could be imposed on the person who committed this terrible crime,ˮ Father Plata said at the Mass. ‟But think of the powerful statement that Hundreds gathered for a Wake service for Sister Paula Merrill, SCN, and Sister Margaret Held, OSF, at makes. At the heart of Christianity is forgiveness. ‛Father St. Thomas Catholic Church in Lexington, Miss., Sunday, August 28. Sisters Merrill and Held were found forgive them for they know not what they do.’ murdered in their home in Durant the previous Thursday. Presiding at the wake were (l-r) Father Gregory ‟Forgiveness isn’t something we do on our own. It is Plata, OFM, Bishop Joseph Kopacz, bishop of the Diocese of Jackson and Father P.J. Curley and Mary something we choose to do with God’s grace,ˮ the Woodward, diocesan chancellor. Photo by Maureen Smith, Mississippi Catholic Franciscan said. During a brief vigil at the sisters’ home Aug. 27, rep- BY MAUREEN SMITH Francis in Milwaukee, and Sister Paula, a member of the resentatives of the religious orders called for a period of Catholic News Service Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky, were recalled reflection and remembrance.
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