Sr. Gloria is actively involved with ecumenism and interreligious affairs, and has been since 1973. By then, she had already been an accomplished classroom teacher, a capable principal, and a responsible supervisor of elementary schools where the Sisters of the Holy Child were teaching.

Following her term on the American Provincial Council of the Society of the Holy Child, Sr. Gloria was asked to serve on the Cardinal’s Commission for Human Relations of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. She admits that she felt unprepared for this new work, except for the fact that she had grown up in New York City with Jewish neighbors and classmates in the local public school.

Her first collaborative effort with the Jewish community of Philadelphia resulted in the development of a curriculum for opening conversation between Jews and Christians. It also established a program that helped facilitators learn how to lead these discussions.

Broadening Knowledge
Over the years, educational visits to Israel have broadened Sr. Gloria’s knowledge, especially in the area of the Holocaust. Developing a Catholic curriculum to address the Holocaust was sorely needed. Collaborating with the Catholic Schools Office, Sr. Gloria produced the first Catholic Holocaust curriculum in the country, Abraham Our Father in Faith. She also worked with the Philadelphia Public School System in publishing their Holocaust curriculum, also the first of its kind to be published in the United States.

In 1989, when Sr. Gloria returned to formal education (St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parochial School and 10 years as Director of the Middle School of Notre Dame Academy), she found time to continue her interfaith work. She served for several years as the Executive Director of the Interfaith Council on the Holocaust, and in 2004, was founding board member of The Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia. She is also a member of the Ecumenical Working Group on Middle East Peace and is currently preparing for a two-day conference at Villanova University entitled, The Quest for Place and Peace in Israel and Palestine.

A conversation with Sr. Gloria speaks to the ecumenical and interreligious journey of the Catholic Church since Vatican II, a journey that continues to enrich the Church and is so needed to meet the needs of our time!