Sister Catriona M. K. MacLeod, a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa for more than six decades whose career in academia took her to Rome and what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore, died Dec. 19 at St. Dominic Villa in Hazel Green, Wis. She was 89.
Born in Lincoln, England, her religious name was Sister Teresa Avila. She earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of St. Andrews, the oldest college in Scotland, and held numerous advanced degrees, which included training in philosophy, religion and sacred Scripture.
She was appointed by St. Pope Paul VI as a member of the ad hoc Commission on the Role of Women in Church and Society, 1973-75; and as a consultor of the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes, 1973-79. Sister Catriona also served as general councilor for the Sinsinawa Dominicans’ Congregation leadership team, 1977-82.
According to an obituary provided by her order, Sister Catriona was considered a “Renaissance woman,” a philosopher and linguist, a biblical scholar and ecumenist who promoted Jewish-Christian dialogue. From 1982 to 2009, she served as a professor of religious studies and philosophy at what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University. In 2006, she received a distinguished alumnae award from Baltimore Hebrew University, where she had earned a master’s degree in Jewish studies.
In the Diocese of Rome, Sister Catriona served as adjunct for the Sacred Congregation of Causes, Vatican City, 1968-70; president of Regina Mundi Pontifical Institute, Rome, 1972-75; and teacher at Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, 1975-77, and Pontifical University of St. Thomas, Rome, 1975-77.
She also taught at what is now Dominican University in River Forest, Ill.; and at Aquinas Institute in Dubuque, Iowa.
A funeral Mass was offered Jan. 6 at the Dominican motherhouse in Sinsinawa, Wis.
More obituaries
Copyright © 2021 Catholic Review Media
