Mother Mary Clare Millea was the superior general of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (from 2004 to 2016).

Early life and education

Mary Clare Millea, a native of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, United States, entered the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1965. She obtained a BS in Psychology at

Seton Hill College Seton Hill University is a private Catholic university in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Formerly a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002 and enrolls about 2,200 students. History The school was founded in 1885 by the Sis ...

(Greensburg, PA), M.S.Ed., a certificate of advanced graduate study in School Psychology at

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

(Pittsburgh, PA), and a Doctorate in Canon Law at

Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Ponti ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Personal life

Millea was fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

with some understanding of French and Spanish.

Experience

* Special Education Teacher * School Psychologist * School Principal * Local superior and provincial superior in the United States Province * Member of the General Council of Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome, Italy for 18 years * Elected Superior General of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart in 2004 * Observer for the XII Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in 2008

Apostolic Visit

In 2009 Millea became the

apostolic visitor In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor (or ''Apostolic Visitator''; Italian: Visitatore apostolico) is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is deputed ...

for the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

and headed a three-year investigation into the USA's 50,000

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. The three-year Vatican investigation was ordered amid growing concern in the Catholic church over what was seen as excessive feminism and secularism among US nuns. The inquiry affected almost 400 institutes of “women religious”. The visitation led to an official Vatican reprimand of the

Leadership Conference of Women Religious The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is one of two associations of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States (the other being the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious). LCWR includes ov ...

(LCWR), which censured them for spending too much time helping the poor while being “silent on the right to life” and Vatican teaching on marriage and sexuality. Overall, the visitation’s final report called for American nuns to “carefully review their spiritual practices and ministry to assure that these are in harmony with Catholic teaching about

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

, creation, the

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

and the redemption,” and called for greater dialogue. Millea officially thanked

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

João Braz de Aviz João Braz de Aviz (; born 24 April 1947) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has served as the prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in ...

“for responding to us with sensitivity, respect and clarity”.

Further Notes

Mother Miriam Cunha Sobrinha of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

succeeded Millea as Superior General in 2016. ''Official homepage'', Retrieved 2023-03-25
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References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Seton Hill University alumni Duquesne University alumni {{US-reli-bio-stub