About Loretto Link
Loretto Link is an organization composed of vowed Sisters, Co-members, and a few long-time associates or friends who know a lot about what the Sisters of Loretto have been up to all these years. The organization is non-canonical, meaning that it is not under any restrictions from the Vatican that may apply to the Religious Congregation of the Sisters of Loretto. They share values, interests, and friendship and seek to further the work of Loretto.
“Loretto Link is a membership-driven organization operating from the bottom up rather than the top down. Several working groups have been organized around their particular interests like payday loans, spirituality, social justice issues, membership, and structure. For members not able to do committee work, we offer a group we call the Wisdom Group.
Currently, we have around 140 members and four or five preparing to become members. We have a board of directors who meet monthly to gather data, plan the general meeting, and more. We publish a newsletter every month that goes out to all the members. Annual membership dues are currently $18.12 or any variation thereof. (The Sisters of Loretto were founded in 1812, hence $18.12.)
Loretto Link seeks to work with and alongside the Loretto Community. As would be expected, most people are in both groups. I see it as the group that will continue the legacy of the Loretto Community when all of the Sisters are gone.”
- Eileen Custy
Sister of Loretto, Secretary to the Service Coordinator and Treasurer of the Loretto Link Board of Directors
The Principle of Subsidiarity
People who hang around the Loretto Community will, from time to time, hear the word ‘subsidiarity.’ This word is one of the central organizing principles of Loretto Link.
Subsidiarity says that the work of an organization, a neighborhood, a state, or a country should be decided on and carried out at the most grassroots and least centralized level possible. Subsidiarity goes hand-in-hand with participation: the principle that everyone has a right (and, to some extent, an obligation) to participate in the decisions that affect the economic, political, and cultural life of any entity to which they belong. The participants are then trusted to let anyone (or entity) know of any decision that might have a broader impact and recognize when something must be discussed and decided at a broader or higher level.
The word has its origins in Catholic social teaching and can be seen in the programs of the Campaign for Human Development, whose projects seek to end the cycle of poverty and promote economic justice through grassroots community structures led by the people the projects serve.
You can also find the principle of subsidiarity in the constitutions of the European Union and many development projects around the world.
In Loretto Link, our working groups have as much autonomy as possible. All members are encouraged to be engaged in a working group or be part of the Wisdom Circle if they don’t have time or energy to be more active.
Art bt Robert Strobridge