• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
This is the book cover of "We Are Eagles," by Anna Marie Kukec Tomczyk. (CNS photo/courtesy Anna Marie Kukec Tomczyk via The Observer)

Immigrants’ stories explored in book about sisters’ literacy center

December 31, 2021
By Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Books, Immigration and Migration, News

AURORA, Ill. (CNS) — While looking for a project so she could cross “write a book” off her bucket list, Anna Marie Kukec Tomczyk thought about her time as an associate with the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois.

She first thought of focusing the book on the sisters’ ministry in Peru and called her friend, Dominican Sister Beth Murphy, to discuss it.

Sister Murphy, communication director for the order, didn’t think the Peru idea would be the best subject for a book, however.

“As I thought about another story, I thought of the work our sisters were doing in the Dominican Literacy Center with immigrants. Nobody has ever written more than a newspaper article about them and I thought it was a good idea,” Sister Murphy said. “And since the literacy center was interested, that’s how it happened.”

Tomczyk, a Chicago resident who attends Queen of All Saints Parish there, already knew of the literacy work. She agreed with Sister Murphy and approached the center’s administrator, Dominican Sister Kathleen Ryan. A book could help others learn about immigrant lives and about the work the sisters continue to do.

“The Dominican Sisters help people on the margins of society. So, Sister Kathleen believed creating a center to help immigrants to learn English and to improve their way of life fit perfectly into their mission,” Tomczyk explained. “As more former students achieved in life, the sisters saw the ‘pillars’ of their Dominican life in a new way.”

Those pillars, “which undergird their lives as Dominican women,” Tomczyk added, “are community, ministry, study and prayer. Now, the sisters saw how the pillars were supporting their immigrant women as well.”

It took three years, but Tomczyk’s work eventually became the book “We Are Eagles,” which was released last spring.

As she began talking with people involved with the center located in Aurora, Tomczyk realized that the literacy center was nearing its 25th anniversary and decided to focus on that angle. She started talking to “early students” about their stories “from how they came to America to how they are today.”

“The center had students from Mexico from the very beginning. Their lives (in the U.S.) were dramatically different from Mexico. One woman was washing clothes on a rock in a stream near her home. Another toted water in jugs.

“I talked to each about how they came to the Chicago area and adjusted to life here. (One) couldn’t communicate to the doctor what was wrong with their child. (Another) couldn’t help with homework,” Tomczyk said.

The women’s inability to speak and read English “became quite a divider between the mom and family,” Tomczyk said. “The children at school, the husband at work were picking up the language.”

But the women wanted help. Some picked up words at home and others looked to community colleges to go further.

Along the women’s paths, the literacy center’s “one-on-one tutoring was customized to their needs,” she said.

When it was time to publish the book, Tomczyk said she was shown “a couple of samples (of cover art) to look at.”

The final design, by Juan Pablo Ruiz, took Tomczyk’s breath away. She was struck by the red background framing an image of a woman and a soaring eagle in a field of flowers.

“It was just a beautiful cover,” she said. “He gets credit for designing all that.”

Tomczyk, though, gets the credit for putting it all together.

“As a journalist, she already had that sort of broad world view,” necessary for a project like the book, Sister Murphy said. “I thought she did a beautiful job. I know she had to very gently probe the women for the depths of their stories and I think she did a beautiful job of communicating their stories.”

Tomczyk sees the stories as belonging to the women.

“A lot of these women bootstrapped their lives and set goals for themselves and did it — with the center helping, too, along the way,” she said. “It’s a women’s book (about) women’s issues. That’s how I hoped it would be perceived.”

read more on books

‘Befriending St. Joseph’, and imagining his silent sorrows

Everyone must take part in politics for the common good, pope says

In a polarized world, what is the mission of the church?

Bible is ‘key to evangelization’ and soul of theology, says Bishop Barron

In learning about saints, faith is strengthened, says book club participant

Joyful Revolution: Happiness takes courage, rebellious spirit, pope says

Copyright © 2021 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service is a leading agency for religious news. Its mission is to report fully, fairly and freely on the involvement of the church in the world today.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history
  • Fire guts historic Catholic school in parish connected to St. John Neumann
  • RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints
  • Suspect pleads not guilty in murder of LA Auxiliary Bishop O’Connell
  • Movie Review: ‘John Wick: Chapter 4, a festival of fatality’

| Latest Local News |

Catholic Charities’ William J. McCarthy Jr. named Loyola’s Business Leader of the Year

Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94

Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history

| Latest World News |

National Eucharistic Revival aims to form disciples on mission with new Easter series

Laws, lawsuits and adult involvement needed to save kids from social media ‘harm,’ say experts

Confession is ‘encounter of love’ that fights evil, pope tells priests

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • National Eucharistic Revival aims to form disciples on mission with new Easter series
  • Confession is ‘encounter of love’ that fights evil, pope tells priests
  • Laws, lawsuits and adult involvement needed to save kids from social media ‘harm,’ say experts
  • Praying for healing for our pet
  • Jérôme Lejeune’s legacy advances ‘abundant life’ for people with Down syndrome in world and church
  • Texas parishioners affected by Ukrainian war, a wildfire have relied on faith, community to survive turmoil
  • Pope, World Council of Churches’ leaders talk about war, divisions
  • Pre-Vatican II Mass was formed by ‘clericalization,’ says papal preacher
  • Memorial to modern Christian martyrs opens in Rome

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED