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May 24, 2018
Tom Burke
San Francisco’s St. Peter School is pulling out all the stops to honor alumna Mercy Sister Ana Maria Pineda in rites including Mass June 10. Sister Ana Maria is a graduate of the Mission District school and entered the Sisters of Mercy from the now-closed St. Peter’s Academy high school in 1963. The special afternoon congratulates Sister Ana Maria on her having been elected to the new leadership team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, West Midwest Community and pays tribute to her immigrant roots.
Born in El Salvador, Sister Ana Maria migrated to the United States with her parents when she was 2 years old. In addition to her years as a student at St. Peter, she also has taught at the school and served in the parish.
“My entire family went to St. Peter’s,” Sister Ana Maria told Catholic San Francisco. “My parents prized education, and entrusted us to St. Peter’s. They were not disappointed. We were given a well-rounded education that demonstrated the care for the whole person. Aside from learning the basics, we were given an ethical foundation. Thankfully, the education we received prepared us for our future involvements. In our family, St. Peter’s is a special place that we remember with profound gratitude and affection.”
Sister Ana Maria has been a tenured faculty member of the Religious Studies Department at Santa Clara University for 21 years, and is a former director of the school’s Graduate Pastoral Ministries Program. A focus for her has been “mentoring many Latino students, as well as coordinating and convening the Latino faculty on campus,” the Mercy Sisters said in a statement.
“Sister Ana Maria and her family represent the riches of talent brought to San Francisco by immigrants. Her ministry, which has revolved around some aspect of Hispanic ministry and theology, has reflected her deep commitment to her heritage.”
Sister Ana Maria is also a former faculty member and director of the Hispanic Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and has been invited by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to participate in its committee for women and committee for Hispanic ministry.
Sister Ana Maria is the author of “Romero and Grande, Companions on the Journey,” which describes the spiritual life and friendship of Oscar Romero and Jesuit Father Rutilio Grande both martyrs of El Salvador.
Mass will be celebrated June 10, 2:30 p.m., at St. Peter Church, 1200 Florida St. at 24th Street. A reception with Sister Ana Maria and her family follows.