Barbara Doherty
{{Short description|American educator and theologian (1931–2020)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Barbara Doherty
| image = BarbaraDoherty.jpg
| image_size = 175px
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| caption =
| other_names = Vincent Ferrer
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|12|2}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|08|17|1931|12|2}}
| death_place = Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, U.S.
| citizenship =
| education = Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Saint Mary's College (Indiana)
Fordham University
| occupation =
| employer =
| known_for =
| title = President of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
| term = 1984–1998
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| website =
}}
Barbara Doherty (December 2, 1931 – August 17, 2020) was an educator and theologian. A Roman Catholic religious sister, she was a member of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. She was president of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Indiana from 1984 to 1998. Other posts have been as director of the Institute of Religious Formation at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, president of the Indiana Conference of Higher Education, and on national boards of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Women's College Coalition.
Biography
Doherty was born on December 2, 1931.{{Cite web |title=Profile: Sister Barbara Doherty |url=https://spsmw.org/sister-profile/barbara-doherty/ |access-date=2020-08-17 |website=Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods |language=en-US}} She attended Providence High School in Chicago, where she met the Sisters of Providence. After graduation, she entered the Sisters of Providence novitiate in 1951. In 1953 she professed final vows and took the religious name of Sister Vincent Ferrer.{{cite book | title=New Lights from Old Truths: Living the Signs of the Times | author=Abbott, Maureen | year=2013 | publisher=Sisters of Providence | isbn=9780989739719}} (Doherty later returned to using her birth name.)
Doherty held bachelor's degrees in Latin, English, and history from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College; a Master's degree in Sacred Doctrine from Saint Mary's College (Indiana); and a doctorate in Theology from Fordham University. She also received honorary doctor of letters degrees from Indiana State University and Dominican University.{{Cite journal|title=Sister Barbara Doherty, SP|journal=All Things Possible |publisher=Sisters of Providence|location=Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana|date=Nov 2007 |url = http://www.spsmw.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=y0LqitDpp5s%3D&tabid=506 |accessdate=November 6, 2009}}
During the 1940s and 1950s, Doherty worked with the Friendship House and on Chicago's Skid Row.{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=J. Patrick |title=Visions and Values in Catholic Higher Education |publisher=Sheed & Ward |year=1991 |location=Kansas City, Missouri |pages=[https://archive.org/details/visionsvaluesinc0000unse/page/80 80–81] |isbn=1-55612-421-X |url=https://archive.org/details/visionsvaluesinc0000unse/page/80 }} In 1963 she began work with the formation of new sisters in her congregation, and in 1964 she was named Mistress of Postulants. In this role she helped guide the congregation through the transitions required for women religious by the Second Vatican Council.{{cite journal | title=Coming of age with Vatican II | author=Wikinson, Denise | journal=HOPE Magazine |date=January 2013 | issue=Winter | pages=8–9}}
In 1982 Doherty was on the steering committee to found the Women of Providence in Collaboration, an association of religious congregations related to Providence.{{cite web|url= http://www.wpcweb.org/aboutwpc/history.html|title= Women of Providence in Collaboration History}} Doherty has studied and lectured in Europe, Asia, Central America, South America and Polynesia{{cite news | url=http://search.findmypast.com/search/us-and-world-newspapers/page/view/240853673 | title=Programs Offered | work=Park Forest South Star | date=22 January 1976 | accessdate=6 November 2014 | pages=10 | via= Find My Past|url-access=subscription }} and has lectured on various non-Christian religions including Hinduism and Buddhism.{{cite news | url=http://search.findmypast.com/search/us-and-world-newspapers/page/view/200587613 | title=Sister Dougherty To Head Retreat Program | work=Terre Haute Saturday Spectator | date=14 July 1973 | accessdate=6 November 2014 | pages=8 | via= Find My Past|url-access=subscription }}
Doherty served as coordinator of the Office of the Shrine of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin for the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods from August 2007 until January 2011.{{cite web|url= http://www.spsmw.org/SistersofProvidence/SaintMotherTheodore/OfficeoftheShrineofSaintMotherTheodore/tabid/1213/Default.aspx|title= Office of the Shrine of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin}} She died on August 17, 2020. A virtual funeral has been planned for August 26, 2020. An in-person funeral was held on November 2, 2021.{{cite web|url= https://spsmw.org/2020/08/16/sister-barbara-doherty-formerly-sister-vincent-ferrer/|title= Obituary: Sister Barbara Doherty (formerly Sister Vincent Ferrer)|date= 17 August 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Loughlin |first1=Sue |title=Sister Barbara Doherty, former SMWC president, dies at 88 |url=https://www.tribstar.com/news/sister-barbara-doherty-former-smwc-president-dies-at-88/article_b9148110-e097-11ea-8539-5fb7dd03c5cb.html |accessdate=August 18, 2020 |work=Terre Haute Tribune-Star |date=August 17, 2020 |language=en}}
Works
- I Am What I Do: Contemplation and Human Experience (1981)
- Make Yourself an Ark (1984)
References
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{{Portal|Christianity}}
{{s-start}}
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{{s-bef | before = Jeanne Knoerle, SP}}
{{s-ttl | title = President of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
| years = 1984–1998}}
{{s-aft | after = Joan Lescinski, CSJ}}
{{end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Barbara}}
Category:Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns
Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic nuns
Category:Fordham University alumni
Category:Saint Mary's College (Indiana) alumni
Category:Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College alumni
Category:Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College faculty