Sr Patricia Murray
Peace, justice and education are three of the central tenets of Sister Patricia Murray’s life.
She explains that growing up in Dublin, both her parents were involved in education and “Education was the air that I breathed.”
Inspiring students to make a difference
Sr Patricia joined the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto Sisters) in 1965, and in the 1970s the order made a commitment to focus on education for justice and peace, so that their students would be inspired and challenged to make a difference in society.
After completing an M.Ed. focused on educating for justice and peace at Trinity College Dublin, Sr Patricia was asked to serve as Peace Education Officer by the Irish Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace.
Incorporating peace and justice into teaching
She worked with both Protestant and Catholic teachers in Northern Ireland to help incorporate peace and justice central to their teaching.
“That was a very important mission which influenced the rest of my life. Educating new generations for mutual respect and understanding was seen to be essential for the creation of a peaceful and just society where difference would be seen as an enrichment and not a threat,” she says.
A focus on South Sudan
Based in Rome since 1998, Sr Patricia became very involved in a number of programmes centred on South Sudan.
In 2009, she was asked to take the position of the first Executive Director of Solidarity with South Sudan.
“Solidarity with South Sudan is an inter-congregational initiative where sisters, priests, brothers and lay people have been educating teachers, nurses, mid-wives, pastoral workers and farmers since 2008. This is making a great contribution towards rebuilding South Sudan after many decades of war,” she explains.
Expanding initiatives
She went on to serve as Executive Secretary of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG). In this role, she has taken an integral part in developing several significant initiatives which involve sisters worldwide.
These initiatives include environmental education and action, establishing policies and procedures to ensure the care and safeguarding of children in all ministries, projects, and programmes, helping migrants in difficult situations build new lives, combating human trafficking and helping children in institutional care reunite with their families.
Presidential Distinguished Service Award
Sr Patricia was awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award in the Peace, Reconciliation and Development category in 2020.
“I feel that in receiving the award I am representing the thousands of Irish Sisters who left Ireland from the 1800s onwards to meet the needs of people worldwide," she says.
"I stand on the shoulders of giants who, with none of the supports available today, worked miracles in many places and especially in remote areas where no one else had reached. I feel that I receive this award on their behalf, and I am truly humbled to do so.”