Sister Sharon Ann Euart, R.S.M. to speak at Saint Xavier University Winter Commencement

Chicago (Dec. 8, 2008) Sister Sharon Ann Euart, R.S.M. will speak at the Saint Xavier University Winter Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008 in the Shannon Center. During the ceremony, Sr. Euart will receive a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, in recognition of her extraordinary record of service.

Shannon Center doors will open at 10 a.m. with the procession beginning at 10:40 a.m. The Commencement ceremony will begin at 11 a.m., Dec. 20, 2008. The University’s Winter Commencement Liturgy will be held at 4:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 19, 2008 in the Shannon Center.

Sr. Euart is a member of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, South Central Community. She earned a baccalaureate degree in Spanish, Secondary Education from Mount Saint Agnes College, Master of Liberal Arts and a Master of Science in Administration and Supervision from Johns Hopkins University, and a Doctorate in Canon Law from The Catholic University of America.

After several years as a teacher and administrator in secondary education, Sr. Euart served as Director of Research and Planning for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. From 1988 to 2001, she served as Associate General Secretary for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. She currently serves as a canon law consultant and visiting professor in the School of Canon Law at The Catholic University of America.

She was named the executive coordinator for the Canon Law Society of America, assuming this responsibility on Aug. 1, 2008. The executive coordinator is the chief administrative officer of the Canon Law Society of America, which provides services to the Board of Governors and the Society’s more than 1,500 members. She is the first woman and the eighth person to hold this office.

Sr. Euart has been a member of the Canon Law Society since 1984 and served as its president in 2004-2005. In addition to serving as president of the Society, she has served as consultor on the Board of Governors from 1995-1997 and a member of several task forces on canonical affairs. She is currently chair of the Future Initiatives Project.

She has given major addresses and seminar presentations at the national and regional meetings of the society. She also serves as consultant to the Bishops’ Committee on Canonical Affairs and the Work Group on Apostolos suos, the Vatican document by Pope John Paul II on the theological and juridical nature of episcopal conferences. She is vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and a member of the Catholic Common Ground Initiative.

Sr. Euart has published in numerous scholarly journals, delivered papers and addresses for diocesan gatherings and national organizations as well as at national and international conferences on a variety of topics including pastoral planning, religious life, lay ecclesial ministry, the role of women in the church, church structures, episcopal conferences and the canonical mandate for theologians in Catholic colleges and universities.

Her scholarship, teaching, service to the academy, and significant contributions to the church and society are outstanding. She received the Yves Congar Award from the Conference for Pastoral Planning and Council Development in 2001. She received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal from Pope John Paul II in 2000.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact: Joe Moore
773-298-3937 or jmoore@sxu.edu