Sr. Nancy Corcoran: 80 year old Catholic nun's ministry in the transgender community

In this episode we talk about Sr. Nancy's mission work as a transgender advocate. She has a magnanimous gift of holding space with an open heart and an open mind. She encourages us to do the same and teaches us how. Sr. Nancy was a former high school teacher of mine. She saw something in me that I didn't see in myself and set the foundation for my life's work in social justice.

Sister Nancy Corcoran was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire but raised in Brookline, Massachusetts. After graduating from Regis College (Weston, Massachusetts), she taught as a lay apostle at St. Joseph’s School (Waipahu, Oahu) with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet from 1966 to 1969. Sister Nancy entered the novitiate of the St. Louis province in 1970.

Sister Nancy taught in St. Louis at St. Agnes and Holy Name grade schools (1971-77) and at the Consortium of Broome County Catholic Schools in Binghamton, New York. From 1979 to 1982, she served as the director of Volunteer Services at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis.

She then headed south and established the Lowndes County Catholic Centers in Hayneville and in Gordonsville, Alabama (1982-1988). From 1988 to 1989, she was asked to set up the Excel Literacy Program in Okolona, Mississippi.

Sister Nancy graduated from Harvard Divinity School with a master’s in theological studies. In 1991, she began chaplaincy ministry at Regina Dominican High School (Wilmette, Illinois) and then at Regis College, her alma mater. While she was in Boston caring for her mother, Sister Nancy created grass/roots: Women’s Spirituality Center, which she directed until 2007 when she became the Catholic chaplain at Wellesley College. During her tenure at the college, she also accepted the position of provincial councilor for the St. Louis province (2008-14).

Throughout a two-year sabbatical (2015-17), Sister Nancy explored ministry with transgender, gender expansive and intersex humans. Today, she joyfully ministers with LGBTQIA+ communities in the metro St. Louis area.

Study has also blessed Sister Nancy's life at University of Hawaii, St. Louis University, Martin Center (now University), the Mexican American Cultural Center, Boston College, the Institute of Black Catholic Studies and Dar al Islam. She is grateful to have chosen to be a Sister of St. Joseph over 50 years ago.

Resource for families: https://transparentusa.org/

TransParent envisions a world that honors and affirms the naturally occurring transgender experience. Our mission is to bring compassionate support to parents and caregivers navigating complex issues faced by their gender-expansive children of any age.

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