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October 8, 2025, Tucson, Arizona – Sisters Charlotte Anne Swift, OP, and Lois Paha, OP, were honored on September 12, 2025, by the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, during the Cornerstone Gala of the diocese’s Catholic Foundation for their many years of service to the people of the diocese. 

“From the beginning, it was overwhelming,” said Sister Charlotte Anne, who ministered a total of 56 years in the Diocese of Tucson – six in her early years of ministry and 50 years when she returned to the diocese. “I don’t feel worthy of it myself,” she said. “We come here and we do our jobs. I kept telling myself that it was all the Sisters over the years” who were being honored. In her remarks, Sister Charlotte Anne noted that 150 Adrian Dominican Sisters have served in the Diocese of Tucson since 1910.

While they were humble in accepting the recognition, both Sisters appreciated the gala organized by the Foundation and the support they received from the 835 people who attended – including Adrian Dominican Sisters Mary Jean Williams, OP, Kathleen “Katie” McGrail, OP, Peg Albert, OP, and Corinne Sanders, OP. “It was a most memorable evening.” 

Sister Charlotte Anne’s ministry – on the day of her first profession of vows – was as a teacher at Loretto School in Douglas, Arizona. After serving in California and other parts of Arizona, she returned to the diocese in 1975 to serve as the Principal of Santa Cruz School in Tucson until 1986, and for 15 years as Executive Director of a Project YES (Youth Enrichment and Support). 

Since then, Sister Charlotte Anne has served as administrative assistant to Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, continuing to serve him even after Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger became the Bishop of Tucson in 2017. Now that Bishop Weisenburger has been installed as the Archbishop of Detroit in March 2025, Bishop Kicanas oversees the Diocese of Tucson until a new bishop is appointed. “I asked for part-time” for Bishop Emeritus Kicanas, Sister Charlotte said, “but now it’s more than that because he’s no longer part-time.”   

Sister Lois began her remarks by being grateful for the Sisters who came before us. She came to minister in the Diocese of Tucson in 2005 to serve as the Director of Formation. “The main program was for the formation of permanent deacons and lay ecclesial ministers,” she said. When the current cohort graduates in June 2026, she said, the program will have trained 121 permanent deacons and 80 lay ministers. 

Sister Lois also works with the wives of the deacon candidates. “When I did my doctoral work, I created a curriculum for the formation of the deacons’ wives to walk and talk with them about what will change in their lives once their husbands said yes to the bishop – how they would be public figures,” she said.

Sister Lois came to the Diocese of Tucson with backgrounds in formation, liturgy, and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). By 2009, she said, she was named Director of Pastoral Services, Formation, and Liturgy. Among the highlights of her ministry in Tucson was hosting the Southwest Liturgical Conference Study Week in 2008 and 2020.

Both Sister Charlotte Anne and Sister Lois reflected on their benefits and learnings from their ministries in the diocese. “Coming back here, I felt I was coming home to the Hispanic community because it has been part of my early years in Douglas,” she said. “I appreciate the Hispanic culture and the way they live and the family orientation, and I have many good friends here,” she said. “It’s easy to feel part of this community.”

Sister Charlotte Anne also appreciates the connection she has with many of the people in the diocese. “I do some counseling and help in whatever way I can,” she said. “You’re with the people and you hear what’s going on with them and you do what you can.”

Sister Lois said she has also learned from her work with many of the cultures in the Diocese of Tucson. In her formation with prospective deacons and lay ecclesial ministers, “I’ve learned to listen to their stories first before pushing them further in terms of preparation for ministry. I’ve learned the differences their culture plays and how they learned their faith from their ancestors – their grandparents and the elders in their family.”  

Read more about Sisters Lois and Charlotte Anne here and watch a tribute video below.

Caption for above feature photo: Attending the 2025 Cornerstone Gala hosted by the Catholic Foundation of the Diocese of Tucson are, from left, Denis Fitzgibbons, Catholic Foundation Board President; Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson; Sister Lois Paha, OP; Donal Drayne, Gala Chair; Sister Charlotte Anne Swift, OP; and Elizabeth Bollinger, Catholic Foundation Executive Director.

Photo Courtesy of the Catholic Foundation of the Diocese of Tucson

September 29, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – Members of the Adrian Rea Literacy Center – adult learners, volunteer tutors, and staff – gathered along with Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, and friends to honor a woman who made a difference in their lives. They waited in a long, informal reception line on a Sunday afternoon to thank Sister Carleen Maly, OP, upon her retirement from her position as director of the literacy center.

Founded in 2008, Adrian Rea Literacy Center was one of six literacy centers sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters and located in Adrian and Detroit, Michigan; Chicago; and West Palm Beach, Florida. The Adrian literacy center recently became independent of the Congregation.

Adrian Rea offers free, one-on-one training to adult learners, most of whom are learning English as a Second Language (ESL). The center also offers tutoring to adults whose first language is English. The focus is on listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills – in a welcoming, safe environment

Christine MacNaughton, Chair of the Board of the Adrian Rea Literacy Center, began a short program during the retirement celebration. She presented a plaque to Sister Carleen that read, “In grateful appreciation for dedicated service, Sister Carleen Maly, OP, the heart and soul of the Adrian Rea Literacy Center, 2008 to 2025.”

More personal messages were written on Sister Carleen’s next gift: a quilt made of squares on which Adrian Rea adult learners, volunteer tutors, staff, and board members had written of their appreciation for Sister Carleen.

For her part, Sister Carleen expressed gratitude to the people gathered and gave a heart-felt plea for more people to volunteer as tutors. “We’ve got to help people, especially now that they don’t even know what’s coming,” she said.

She was moved by the people who came to the celebration and by the work that went into preparing it. “The key moments were the beautiful way that my colleagues transformed what was our workspace and our teaching and tutoring space into a royal room – a regal room, because it was lined up with places where people could sit and get to know each other,” she said.

An educator for much of her life as an Adrian Dominican Sister, Sister Carleen also engaged in parish ministry and in 1994 was elected Chapter Prioress (Superior) of the Congregation’s Florida Chapter. In 2000, at the conclusion of her term, she moved to Detroit to be closer to her mother after the death of her father. 

She was invited to live at the convent of Dominican High School and work with Sisters Marie Damian Schoenlein, OP, and Sarah Cavanaugh, OP, at the Dominican Literacy Center. “It was my first taste of adult literacy,” Sister Carleen said. She worked there for three years until the Congregation asked her to serve as Director of Vocation Outreach.

When Sisters Marie Damian and Sarah opened Adrian Rea Literacy Center in Adrian, they asked Sister Carleen to join them. Sister Carleen succeeded Sister Marie Damian as director.

“My biggest challenge was training and keeping tutors,” Sister Carleen said. “We had no trouble finding people who wanted to be tutored.” But, she added, much of the literacy work in the Adrian area was focused on teenagers. “To offer a program of literacy for adult learning was new to a lot of people in this area.” 

Sister Carleen emphasized that the people who are tutored are referred to as adult learners – not as students. “Their children are students.” Being called learners “elevates the adults. Some of them already have a first language of their own. They’re coming here to learn another language,” English, she said.

Sister Carleen expressed admiration for the adult learners – for the hard work they do in their jobs and their determination to learn English. “A lot of the work they do is hard,” she said. “There have been summers here that have been brutal. They’ve been outside eight hours a day … in manual, back-breaking labor.” Yet, she added, they are willing to put in the extra time and effort to come to the literacy center to develop their skills in English.

“The joys are knowing that we are able to change people’s lives because we are able to give them the gift of being able to read, write, and speak in English,” Sister Carleen said. She also finds joy in “giving them the ability to achieve their goals: to help their children [with their homework], to be able to know what the doctor is saying, and to get a better job.” Their commitment to learning also serves as a good example to their children – and a bridge between parents and children who are also learning. “They don’t hesitate to say, ‘My children are teaching me,’” she said. 

Many adult learners also ask for help to prepare for the U.S. citizenship test. “We ask the tutors to help their learners study the 100 questions involved in the citizenship test,” Sister Carleen said, and many have become U.S. citizens.

Sister Carleen is pleased with the dedication of the volunteer tutors, who themselves experience joy as they help the adult learners to improve their English skills. But, she added, Adrian Rea is always in need of more tutors. One-on-one, individualized tutoring “is the best way and the most tried and true way for most adults to learn,” she explained.

Now that she is retired, Sister Carleen said she hopes to continue volunteering in places where there’s a need to help adults, perhaps helping to bring in more tutors. “I believe in our program,” she said. “I’d like to introduce people to our literacy center, that we have a good place for people to come and learn to speak English. This is one of the few literacy centers in this area. It opens new horizons.”  

For more information on how to become a tutor or a learner, contact Adrian Rea Literacy Center at 517-264-7320 in English or 517-264-7327 en Español, or email [email protected]. The Center’s hours are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.
 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Carleen Maly, OP, left, and Christine MacNaughton, Chair of the Board of Adrian Rea Literacy Center, display a quilt of squares containing messages from tutors, adult learners, and staff of the literacy center to Sister Carleen.