Irish Loreto Sister Recognized with Honorary Doctorate for Transforming Girls’ Lives in South Sudan amid War, Famine

He added, “In conferring upon Sr. Orla Treacy, the degree of Doctor of Theology, honoris causa, this University affirms not only the remarkable achievements of an individual, but also the enduring values of faith, justice, and human dignity to which our university and the wider Church aspire.”

Fr. Sheridan observed that Catholic education, at its heart, “is not merely about the transmission of knowledge” but is about the formation of persons who can think critically, act compassionately, and “live with a conscience attuned to the voice of God.”

St. Patrick’s Pontifical University confers a Theology doctorate on Sr Orla Treacy. Credit: St. Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth

He observed that in the 17 years that Sr. Orla had lived in South Sudan, she embodied the vision of the founder of her Institute, Mary Ward, who once said, “Do not bury your  talents, lent to you by God to be expended in service.” 

“Sr. Orla has lived in South  Sudan for seventeen years embodying this sacred vision of education and has never buried her talents,” the official at St. Patrick's Pontifical University in Maynooth said, adding that Sr. Treacy's work has over the years been a beacon of hope to countless students,  teachers, and communities, “illuminating a path of justice, mercy, and intellectual rigor.”

“It is a well-known and often quoted fact that the Catholic Church is the largest provider of education for women in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Sr. Orla has been a tireless campaigner for girls in the pursuit of education,” the Catholic Priest said.

Sr. Orla Treacy, during a nine-day “walking for peace” pilgrimage organized by the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek. Credit: ACI Africa

He noted that Sr. Orla’s vision for the school and her pupils does not stop at the boundaries of education. 

For Sr. Orla in the Diocese of Rumbek, Fr. Sheridan said, the classroom is always connected to the wider world, “a world too often scarred by poverty, exclusion, and oppression.”

“With  courage and conviction, Sr. Orla extends her advocacy to the arena of human rights,” he said, adding that through her work, the Loreto Sister upholds the great Catholic witnesses to justice of  Dorothy Day, who proclaimed that “our problems stem from our acceptance of this  filthy, rotten system.”

Fr.  Sheridan described the Irish Catholic Sister who serves as Director of the Loreto Mission  as an inspiration, especially to the Irish University’s community, saying, “Sr.  Orla…you are the best of us. You are an inspiration to our students, an encouragement to our graduates, and an affirmation to the university of its mission in the church and the world.” 

Sr. Orla Treacy. Credit: ACI Africa

He further congratulated Sr. Orla for the Honorary Doctorate, noting that this is not the Catholic Sister’s first such recognition.

Sr. Orla was also one of 10 recipients of the 2019 U.S. Department of State's International Women of Courage Award, an annual honour recognizing women who had “demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality and women's empowerment.”

In announcing the awards, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Sr. Orla’s work had become “a beacon of hope for girls who might otherwise be denied education and forced to enter early marriages.”

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The Loreto Sister who has been in South Sudan since 2006 was also recognised with a Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 2021. 

Credit: ACI Africa

Sr. Orla travelled to South Sudan at invitation from the Bishop of the then Local Ordinary of Rumbek, the late Bishop Caesar Mazzolari, to begin a girls’ boarding school there. She has made the war-torn country her home ever since.

In his address at the September 27 event, Archbishop Eamonn lauded Sr. Orla’s commitment to bring faith, hope and love into a world. He said, “Too often appears faithless, hopeless and love-less.”

“God is working through you. And you have generously answered God’s call to bring your many gifts to making a real difference. Your gifts of leadership, courage, and perseverance. Your positivity and joy,” the Archbishop of Armagh told Sr. Orla, and added, “You carry the light and compassion of Christ to the peripheries.” 

“Thank you for all that you are, and all that you do, by the grace of God.  You’re an inspiration!”  Archbishop Eamonn told the South Sudan-based Catholic Sister.

He noted that in the midst of “so much violence, destruction, suspicion and recrimination”, Sr. Orla’s team seeks to highlight the dignity and the vocation of every person, especially that of girls  and women, “in the midst of a culture that often thinks differently.”

Describing the Loreto Sisters’ school in Rumbek Diocese as “a beacon of hope”, the Irish Catholic Archbishop told Sr. Orla, “You go where others have been reluctant to go before, and you are leaving a path behind for others to follow. To that end, Sister Orla, your work is prophetic. You plant seeds of hope that one day will flourish.”

He lauded Sr. Orla’s resilience, saying, “Despite being surrounded by suffering, you inspire your students to believe in themselves, to dream, to heal divisions and to give back to their communities knowing that: “Cruci dum spiro fido”- In the cross, while I breathe, I trust.” 

The Archbishop acknowledged the contribution of the Loreto Sisters to the lives and hopes of many girls and women in Ireland, and beyond, especially in the work of education, social justice, and inspiring faith, hope and love. 

“Congratulations, Dr Orla. May God continue to give success to the work of your hands,” Archbishop Eamonn said.

In her remarks, Sr. Orla joked about the honour conferred upon her, saying, “I was never a great student in school, so thanks for this doctorate.”

She said that her award ceremony was an opportunity to celebrate the “legacy of Loreto education.”

Sr. Orla spoke at length about the legacy of her Institute, describing its founders, Mary Ward and Teresa Ball, as “women of exceptional faith” who “trusted all to God.”

She recalled that Teresa Ball opened 37 communities in seven countries. Teresa, Sr. Orla, said, was “a great visionary, missionary and courageous leader” who, though never having travelled beyond Ireland and England, followed the dream of Mary Ward that “women in time to come would do much”.  

Recalling the start of her apostolate in South Sudan, she said, “Twenty years ago we relived something of this first story of Teresa Ball. The then Bishop of Rumbek, Bishop Cesar was looking for the Mary Ward Sisters to come to his Diocese to begin a new mission educating girls. This invitation came at a time when the Congregation were moving outwards in a missionary movement, known as the Courage to Move. Beginning a new mission in new countries.”  

She recalled her arrival in 2006 into a region that had just come out of 20 years of civil war. “People were hungry, sick, traumatized from the war, and there were few services for the people.”  

“And here we were coming to open a girls’ boarding secondary school in a region where boys and girls weren’t even going to primary school. And where girls are forced to marry as young as 15, for their cow value,” Sr. Orla narrated.

She recalled that her first years in South Sudan were challenging, and explained, “Over the years our mission has experienced insecurity, aggression, financial problems, health issues, but still we continue to trust, to endure and to accompany our young women in South Sudan.”

The award-winning Catholic Sister said that South Sudan is currently “on the verge of another civil war”, adding, “this doesn’t stop our young women dreaming of a better world, a more just society where women can be educated.”  

The Loreto Sisters’ initiative in South Sudan had grown “from strength to strength”, Sr. Orla said, and explained, “Our Secondary school gave way to a Primary School for boys and girls, a health clinic followed to support the local community and then looking to the future and sustainability we added an Education Centre, internship programme and University scholarship programme.” 

Loreto Sisters dedication to Education in South Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of Rumbek has moulded young people who are determined to restore peace in their country, Sr. Orla said.

“Our youth are religious and spiritual, they love Church and over the past few years we have facilitated youth retreats and nine-day walking pilgrimages throughout our diocese, reaching hard to reach places, bringing a message of unity and hope,” he said. 

Graduates from the Education programme are now over 600 young women who Sr. Orla said are now “working, studying, marrying, becoming mothers”

“All over the country, they are influencing change in their culture,” she said of the graduates, who have invited Loreto Sisters to establish a new mission in the town of Awei, located in the north of the country.

St. Patrick’s Pontifical University confers a Theology doctorate on Sr Orla Treacy. Credit: St. Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth

Sr. Orla said that the town has a population of one million people, over 90 percent of whom are Catholic, with no religious or missionary presence. “These graduates have called us to come and offer quality, Catholic education to the next generation,” she said. 

In her address, Sr. Orla also delivered a message in line with the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, saying that young people, all over the world, are “beacons of hope, those who  challenge us to step forward.”

“This is our jubilee year of hope,” she said, and continued, “In the midst of the negativity that we  hear it can be hard to hold on to hope.”

“We do face diminishment in our Churches in Europe but the message of Jesus continues to touch our young people who call us to keep the vision, mission and courage of our early foundress and to trust,” she said.

Sr. Orla implored, “We pray for our fragile world that we can continue to discern new paths, keep the passion alive and share the light of Christ in darkened places.”