Until last July, St. Bernard School in Mt. Lebanon hadn’t had a religious sister as a principal since 1991, leading some students to worry when they found out that Sister Daniela Bronka would be filling the position.
“We thought she’d be really strict and not fun at all,” said eighth-grader Chloe Morycz.
“I thought she’d be really old and have a big veil covering her whole face, but then she turned out to be really young. Like 20,” said fourth-grader Damien Szuch.
At 40, Sister Daniela of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth is a bit older than Damien thinks, and though she does not have a veil that covers her entire face, she does dress in habit, with the traditional veil pulled back.
As the number of religious serving as principals or teachers in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh decreases, her dedication to service in education stands as an example of this year’s National Catholic Schools Week theme, “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.”
St. Bernard and the rest of the country’s Catholic schools celebrate National Catholic Schools Week this week with assemblies and special events, including a lip-synching concert that Sister Daniela planned for Friday at St. Bernard’s.
Sister Daniela believes her presence in a leadership role in a Catholic grade school is important at a time when the number of sisters in schools continues to shrink. “Some of the students have never seen a sister,” she said.
Sixteen of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh’s 60 elementary schools, or 26 percent, are led by sisters, and none are led by priests or brothers.
One of the district’s eight high schools, or 12 percent, is led by a brother, and none are led by priests or sisters. Three percent of teachers are either brothers or sisters.
Nationally, religious account for principal roles in just under 16 percent of elementary schools and 23 percent of high schools. The percentage leading high schools has dropped in half since just 2004.
The percentage of all staff, both teachers and administrative, in all Catholic schools has dropped from 74 percent in 1960 to just 3 percent today.
Sister Dale McDonald, director of public policy for the National Catholic Education Association, said that in addition to the precipitous drop in the number of women entering religious life — down by 72 percent since 1965 — sisters and brothers work in more varied sectors than they did in the 1960s.
“The Vatican Council told orders to look into what their founder or foundress cared about, and many found it was service to the poor,” she said. The classroom was no longer the top place of work for sisters.
This makes Sister Daniela, who has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Holy Family University in Philadelphia, a hot commodity.
“We were on the edge of our seats during her interview because we were so excited about the prospect of her coming here. She’s a grand slam: She’s Catholic, religious, extremely competent and young,” said Father David Bonnar, pastor of St. Bernard Parish.
Although Father Bonnar believes having a religious sister in habit is particularly attractive in strengthening the school’s Catholic identity, he and his search committee weren’t looking exclusively for a religious sister.
“We were looking for the right person. And it’s hard to find a religious sister for this position. It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
Sister Patricia Laffey, an educational consultant for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, said that while the diocese doesn’t necessarily recruit clergy for open principal positions, it sometimes uses existing connections with the order of any currently employed sisters to find applicants.
Eighth-grade teacher Megan Sully says that Sister Daniela’s presence has provided the female students with a previously absent example.
“Becoming a nun isn’t a tangible thing for them. They see priests and deacons at Mass, but they don’t get to see that there’s a role for them.”
Sister Daniela’s favorite times of day are arrival, when she greets many of the school’s more than 300 students and their parents in the parking lot, and lunch.
“I like to eat lunch with them at their tables and chitchat. My goal by October was to know every single one of them by name,” she said.
“She always stands at the bottom of the steps and says, ‘Hi’ to us,” giggled fourth-grader Ellie Lackner.
Arrival and lunch are also the times when Sister Daniela, who lived in Philadelphia for 13 years after moving there from Poland, receives the most grief about her Philadelphia sporting pride.
“The kids have been harassing me about it since I got here,” she joked
But the comfortable relationship among Sister Daniela and her students doesn’t indicate a lack of respect. “There’s still a line, and they know that,” Ms. Sully said.
“I’m trying to build a positive relationship with the students and show them that a nun in the office doesn’t have to be scary or dramatic,” Sister Daniela said. “They think you have to be gloomy-faced and so serious. If you touch the lives of these children, maybe one of them will join the priest or sisterhood.”
Jill Harkins: jharkins@post-gazette.com.
First Published: January 26, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
Updated: January 26, 2015, 5:07 a.m.
