A Conversation with S. Cyril Mooney Loreto Day School Sealdah, Calcutta INDIA

Born in Ireland, S. Cyril has served in India since 1956.  As the headmistress of the Loreto Day School, Sealdah, Calcutta, she has transformed a program originally designed to serve privileged women into a school and home for the children of extreme poverty in Calcutta and the surrounding rural villages.

S. Cyril's goal has been to intervene so that these children do not end their lives in utter deprivation and despair.  "Mother Teresa - her work was never finished," she said in a PBS interview.  "Our approach is to educate the child, put the child on their feet, give them a good job, and then they're settled for life."  S. Cyril's achievement has been to transform the Loreto Day School into what she describes as a "Resource Centre for the Kingdom of God ensuring that even the poorest child has a place in the sun."

In recognition of her work, S. Cyril has received awards including recognition by UNESCO (1994) and the International Christian Stewardship Award in 2002 given by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.  She has been interviewed and profiled in reports for PBS by Fred de Sam Lazaro for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Religion and Ethics News Weekly.     Prior to her Saint John's visit, S. Cyril was asked to speak to the United Nations.

Nick Hayes
University Chair in Critical Thinking
Quad 451B, SJU
(320) 363-2623

Gregory Cooke
Research Assistant
gdcook@csbsju.edu

Norma Koetter
Administrative Assistant, University Chair in Critical Thinking
(320) 363-2770
nkoetter@csbsju.edu