Jubilee: Hilton Foundation seeks to ‘elevate voices of Catholic sisters’
By Devin Watkins
“Their stories have to be lifted for everyone to understand what is truly happening in the world, and these sisters do it out of their heart and compassion for others.”
Linda Hilton, Chair of the Hilton Foundation’s Board of Directors, shared that conviction in an interview about the work of Catholic sisters around the globe.
She spoke to Pope on the sidelines of a conference entitled “Weaving Communion through Communication,” organized by the Dicastery for Communication (our parent entity).
The event brought together around 80 Catholic sisters to explore how they can communicate their work to elevate the voices of others. It was sponsored by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, which was founded by the hotel entrepreneur in 1944.
Ms. Hilton shared that she and other members of the foundation’s board were moved to tears when hearing about the work of Sr. Norma Pimentel, MJ, who works with migrants on the US-Mexico border in Texas.
“Knowing about what's happening there through their applications [for funding] was eye opening to me,” said Ms. Hilton.
Like Sr. Pimentel, who spoke at the conference on Thursday, there are hundreds of thousands of other religious sisters who serve Christ in people from all facets of society, often in silence but always with love.
In his will bequeathing a large portion of his estate to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the hotel entrepreneur asked that Catholic sisters should always represent the largest investment in the Foundation’s portfolio.
“In our vision, it states: love one another, for that is the whole law,” quoted Ms. Hilton, his granddaughter. “The peoples of the world deserve to be loved and encouraged, never to be abandoned, to wander alone in poverty.”
She said the Hilton Foundation’s board seeks to respond to the evolving needs of the world.
One project funded by the foundation provides ongoing formation for sisters in communications and is carried out in collaboration with the Dicastery for Communication. Each year, dozens of sisters receive online training in modern media, and several spend three months at the Dicastery’s offices in Rome as interns to receive in-depth formation.
Besides training younger religious women, the Hilton Foundation also launched “The Anna Trust for Elderly Catholic Sisters” on January 22.
Created in collaboration with the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), the initiative will support a “healthy, dignified aging process” for sisters worldwide.
Ms. Hilton and the board of directors met Wednesday in the Vatican with Pope Francis, whose commitment to the most vulnerable and concern for the elderly inspired the foundation to create The Anna Trust.
She said the board felt it was important to support Catholic sisters who have spent their whole lives dedicated to serving others, citing a report from 2009 showing that the average age of sisters in the United States at the time was 69 years old.
“Religious sisters don’t keep what money they earn but give it to their superiors because of their vow of poverty,” said Ms. Hilton. “So, when there is nothing for them, it’s important to step in and care for them.”
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