News/Events

January 16, 2008 - Sr. Mary Priniski Named Director of the Labor Guild            

(Brighton, MA) ... Sr. Mary Priniski, OP has been named director of the Labor Guild of the Archdiocese of Boston. Her appointment was announced Tuesday evening during a meeting which included the installation of officers and new board members for the Labor Guild.  Sr. Mary succeeds the late Rev. Edward F. Boyle, S.J. who passed away this past November 2007 and who served the Labor Guild for thirty-seven years. The Labor Guild is an ecumenical organization of labor-relations professionals that support bipartisan labor relations.  

Reverend Richard M. Erikson, Ph.D., V.G., Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese said, "On behalf of the Archdiocese, I welcome Sr. Mary to her new role and extend the best wishes and prayers of Cardinal Seán as she begins her ministry with us.  We thank Sr. Mary for her commitment to serve the local Church at this time and to advocate for the needs of working families, which represent a significant segment of our Catholic community."

Reverend J. Bryan Hehir, Secretary for Social Services, said, "Sr. Mary Priniski is an experienced and distinguished leader on all of the major issues faced by working families, which the Church is deeply committed to supporting.  She brings a unique perspective to this important position in the area of social justice particularly at a time when there are so many important and intersecting issues on the table including health care, childcare and wages.”

Sr. Mary said,  “I am very excited about being part of the Archdiocese of Boston and am looking forward to working with the staff, board, and members of the Guild.  The Guild is an important ministry of the Church.  I pray that I may carry on the good work that has been done in the past and further an agenda that will support the movement of our world toward the Kingdom of God.”

Sr. Mary Priniski background

Sr. Mary is a member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters.  She earned her doctorate in Missiology from Union Institute and holds a master’s degree from Aquinas Institute in healthcare mission.  She earned her bachelors degree in Religious studies from the University of Detroit.

She began her public ministry in 1972 with the Ford City Catholic Center in Chicago, Illinois and for the next seven years worked extensively with youth ministry in parishes in California and Michigan. In 1979 Sr. Mary joined the Southerners for Economic Justice in Rick Hill, South Carolina as a field staff member working on civil rights and worker rights issues, particularly the rights of textiles workers.  From 1984-1992 she served as coordinator of Connective Ministries in Rock Hill, developing workshops and facilitating forums for religious congregations, their superiors and seminarians. 

In 1993 she was named Director of Glenmary Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia and later served as Director of the Glenmary Commission on Justice in Atlanta. Here she was the founding chair of the MetroAtlanta Religion/Labor Roundtable.

From 2001-2003 Sr. Mary served as the Health Care Workers Advocate for the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice building support for local interfaith groups across the United States. Since 2003 she has served with the Service Employees International Union working in areas of religious outreach in support of organizing family childcare providers.

Sr. Mary began her ministry at the Guild on January 7, 2008.

Fr. Erikson said, "We can not forget the enormous contributions of Fr. Ed Boyle who lead the Labor Guild for more than three decades.  His commitment, the respect he held from both labor and employers, and his devotion to serve Christ are forever etched in the fabric of our local Church.  He served with great dignity understanding the principles of fairness.  We give thanks to God for Fr. Boyle and for all he did to serve the Archdiocese as a priest and as an advocate for social justice."

The Labor Guild

Founded by Richard James Cardinal Cushing in 1945, the Labor Guild is the largest such Church-sponsored member organization in the U.S. Its work in the labor-relations community includes administration of contract ratifications, bargaining-unit representation and election of union officers, informal networking and counseling on professional matters, and several education programs and seminars for companies, unions and community groups.

Since 1967 the guild has held an annual awards dinner named in honor of both Cardinal Cushing and then guild chaplain, Father Mortimer H. Gavin, SJ. The event is intended to recognize professionals who have shown exemplary talent and effort in their field.  Previous recipients have included labor-relations specialists from Boston public schools, labor activists from New England Regional Labor Councils, arbitrators and third-party agencies in the labor-relations field..

About the Archdiocese of Boston

The Archdiocese of Boston was founded on April 8, 1808 and was elevated to Archdiocese in 1875. Currently serving the needs of approximately 2 million Catholics, the Archdiocese of Boston is an ethnically diverse and spiritually enriching faith community consisting of 295 parishes, across 144 communities, educating nearly 50,000 students in its Catholic schools and 156, 000 in religious education classes each year, ministering to the needs of more than one million patients annually in its hospitals and 200,000 individuals through its social service outreach. Mass is celebrated in nearly twenty different languages each week. For more information please visit www.rcab.org.

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