ATCHISON COUNTY —The Benedictine sisters in Atchison, Kansas announced they will discontinue active sponsorship of and governing responsibilities over Benedictine College.
In a statement on their website, the Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, who co-founded Benedictine College more than 50 years ago, said they "discerned a call to focus on their “growing ministries” and care for their “aging community.” The sisters are also continuing to sponsor other local schools."
"We are grateful for the wise women who preceded us and founded Mount St. Scholastica College in 1923 to fulfill our mission to educate women in our Catholic faith and take leadership positions in our society. In 1971, St. Benedict’s College and Mount St. Scholastica College merged and became Benedictine College. The college has continued our legacy of providing a strong academic program and an environment for students to live out their faith."
"We believe that God continues to call our community to educate; to provide spiritual enrichment; and to serve the poor and advocate for them, especially women. Today that call is being manifested through our growing ministries at Keeler Women’s Center and Sophia Spirituality Center. It is also lived out through our care for the sick and elderly in our community and our care for creation."
"We are proud to call ourselves co-founders of Benedictine College, and we will continue to pray for its continued success. Although we are withdrawing from the governing responsibilities related to sponsorship, we will continue to support the college with hospitality at our monastery, collaboration in various college-related programs and activities, and in further developing relationships with students, faculty and staff. We continue to hold our alumni in our hearts and in our prayer as we listen to God’s call."
The school responded saying, 'It is with heavy hearts but with grateful understanding, that we accept the decision of the Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery to withdraw from the governing responsibilities related to sponsorship of Benedictine College."
"It is not easy to part with an institution that has been so integral to the college’s history for more than a century. The Sisters of the Mount are our courageous co-founders and the authors of some of the most dynamic and impressive chapters in our shared history. Thanks to the sisters, the alumnae that Benedictine College counts as its own include a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in Wangari Maathai; authors, professors, and administrators; generations of inspiring teachers; remarkable musicians and music instructors; and a legacy of leadership in corporal and spiritual works of mercy that has attracted national attention."
":It is impossible to summarize a relationship that has been so rich and multi-dimensional, but the successes of Benedictine College would be unthinkable without the Mount. While the formal, juridical connection between us will end, our close relationship and our friendship in Christ will not. Our message to the Mount St. Scholastica community is this:
"You have prayed and worked side by side with us through wars, pandemics, economic downturns and cultural turmoil as together, with God’s grace, we made this “school in the Lord’s service” a reality in Kansas. You have been our colleagues, our counsellors, our co-workers and our trusted friends, in good times and bad. But above all, you have been our beloved sisters, our family, and nothing will change that. Thank you for your inspiration, and may God bless you on your new chapter."