Extension magazine - Summer 2023

30 INSPIRE
Feature
Extension | Summer 2023 31
Sister Tere leads a
program across 60
parishes, including those in
cartel-controlled regions.
Boston College graduate courageously puts her skills to use in Mexico
ALMOST A DECADE AGO,
when Sister María Teresa
“Tere” de Loera López
found out she was going
to the United States to
participate in Catholic
Extension’s U.S.-
Latin American Sisters
Exchange Program, she
said she felt “chosen.”
The program is designed to
help Latin American sisters
gain leadership and ministry
skills while in the United States
that they can apply in their
future work in the Global South.
When Sister Tere, a member
of the Catholic Teachers of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus religious
community, completed the program
and returned to Mexico in
2020, she took on the leadership
of a massive religious education
program in the northern
Mexican state of Chihuahua.
Now she serves 60 parishes and
leads a staff of 12.
Part of her job entails driving
out to distant parishes to
train catechists. The farthest
parish is three hours away. Kidnappings
are frequent.
“Those areas are run by drug
cartels, so the roads are lonely
and very dangerous,” she said.
“We drive on our own, since
we have no staff that can ride
with us. That’s been quite a
challenge, but I know that
Jesus, Mary and all the saints
are aboard. It’s very exciting
though, because this is about
lay leader formation, and we
are willing to make the trip for
them. If I die on the frontline,
it will have been worth it.”
Her courage adds new
meaning to the phrase “Jesus is
my copilot.”
On one occasion, her car
broke down when she was
by herself on a remote road
and had no cell phone signal.
She was forced to flag down
another driver, who fortunately
was able to help her. It could
have easily been a kidnapper,
looking for easy prey.
Despite the risks and realities
of life in northern Mexico, she
is adamant that no corner of
her diocese or any community
should be neglected or denied
the love of the Church. She
inspires people with her joy,
ever-present smile and determination.
PUTTING HER TRAINING
TO USE
“Today I continue to apply
the education and skills I
learned as I lead my ministry,”
Sister Tere said. “I am very
grateful for all the support that
Catholic Extension has provided.”
Sister María Teresa “Tere” de Loera
López graduated with a master’s degree
from Boston College in 2019.
The leafy and pristine campus
of Boston College, where
she earned her master’s degree
in applied leadership with an
Extension scholarship, must
feel like a long way from the
cartel-patrolled, desert roads of
northern Mexico. But she insists
that the degree left her with a
wealth of knowledge and ideas
to implement as a leader in
Mexico.
“The marketing class I took
was so empowering because I
remember asking myself if I’d
be able to make
it in the
world,” she said. “That class
gave me the confidence to
know that I can do it, that marketing
is needed to offer a
product. It helped me to think
about ways to make the product
that we offer in the Church
attractive to the people, so they
can come to Jesus. The skills
I acquired at Boston College
helped me get creative to spark
interest among catechists and
parish leaders.”
While she earned her degree,
the program also funded
her ministry in Arkansas
where she worked in rural parishes,
creating religious education
programs and serving
women who were survivors of
domestic violence. She
also helped connect
Hispanic and Anglo
families into
a united community
of faith. She describes
this experience
as “spectacular.”
Nun up against organized crime
A PIONEER FOR
OTHER SISTERS
Sister Tere was part
of the inaugural group
of women religious in
Catholic Extension’s
U.S.-Latin American
Sisters Exchange Program,
which was developed in
partnership with the Conrad N.
Hilton Foundation. A hundred
other sisters have participated
over the past decade, with 50
more set to join the program
later this year.
The five-year program provides
an opportunity for Catholic
sisters from religious congregations
founded and based
in Latin America to come to the
United States to pursue a university
degree while they serve
the poor in an Extension diocese.
She and the 35 other sisters
in the program’s first cohort
became pioneers. In addition
to their significant accomplishments
as ministers in the
United States, they have now
been deployed by their superiors
throughout the world,
applying their skills to the various
ministries and leadership
positions in which they find
themselves.
Sister Tere and her inaugural
cohort also provided Catholic
Extension a road map for
this program, which has continued
to grow and have greater
impact for sisters who have followed
in their footsteps. Her
advice to future sisters participating
in the program is this:
“Take full advantage of the
education that Catholic Extension
has so wonderfully provided
to enrich yourselves and
improve your ministry, so that
in the future you will return
with better skills and abilities
in service of your mission.”