Sister Margaret Rose Nickerson says she receives much more than she gives through her ministry at AIDS Saint John in New Brunswick. “I recognize how poor I am and how rich those who are poor are for me,” says the Sister of Charity of the Immaculate Conception. As support coordinator, Margaret Rose journeys with those “infected  Read more »

We sincerely thank Sister Regina Bechtle, Sisters of Charity of New York, for these articles, which shines a light on the HIV/AIDS ministries by Sisters of Charity Federation congregations. Generations of Sisters and Daughters of Charity learned by heart that the central purpose of our vocation was to honor Jesus Christ by providing him “every temporal  Read more »

New York City was Ground Zero in the early days of AIDS. Many Sisters of Charity of New York met the physical and spiritual needs of AIDS patients, doing what was before them to do, as St. Vincent de Paul counseled. They served in settings like St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center, Bayley Seton Hospital,  Read more »

Sr. Christine Reyelt, SC, MD, was one of the first medical professionals to specialize in the treatment of persons with HIV/AIDS. An infectious disease specialist, Sr. Chris spent her entire medical career at St. Joseph’s Hospital (now St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center) in Paterson, NJ, one of the first hospitals to provide HIV care in  Read more »

Sister Kevin Marie Flynn, born and raised in Ireland, came to the US to join the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. Having a missionary spirit, she has served as an SCL in various ways, notable missions being with natives in Alaska and American Indians in Montana. During the past 21 years she has worked with  Read more »

The time was 1990, when little was known about HIV/AIDS . Sr. Maureen Skelly, a Sister of Charity – Halifax, was a spiritual director on the staff of Mount Manresa, the Jesuit retreat house on Staten Island. Even though many wrongly feared that they would catch HIV/AIDS just by being with someone who had it,  Read more »