Sister Eileen McCann

Sister Eileen McCann is a true “sister of the neighborhood”. She has known and served people not only from the neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens, but also personally in Puerto Rico and by extension from Central America, South America and the Islands of the Caribbean. “Exposure to so many people”, she says, “makes life richer.”

Eileen McCann was born in the Bronx and grew up in Astoria. She met the Sisters of St. Joseph in elementary school and then again at Bishop McDonnell High School Annex. Although she later met many other orders of women religious at Bishop’s, she remained impressed with the Sisters of St. Joseph as she watched them teach all day and then rush home to care for the elderly and sick sisters at their convent in Flushing. In 1956, after graduation and a brief period of work, she entered the community.

Eileen’s first mission was to teach the sixth grade at St. Matthew’s School in Crown Heights. “I loved it!”, she says. She was then transferred to Transfiguration Parish in Williamsburg. It was there that she was inspired and challenged by the love and care of the sisters for children and families who were poor. There were base communities in the parish whose concern was the needs of the neighborhood and what could be done to help the people.

Meanwhile, Eileen had been sent to Providence College to earn an MS in religious Studies. She was sent to Bishop Kearney HS and then to Fontbonne Hall to teach religion.

It was the time of Vatican II and Eileen was tasked with updating the sisters in the latest theology and in understanding the theology of the congregation’s new vision in The Word is Seed.

In 1969, she was sent to Puerto Rico to teach at the newly opened Academia Maria Reina and to upgrade the sisters in theology. A need for a principal at the school in San Ignacio parish arose and Eileen was asked to fill the role. She did so until she returned to the United States in 1980.

It was then that her major work for immigrants began. She went to Our Lady of Grace Parish in West Babylon to teach religious education.

It was a time of violence and unrest in Central America. Oscar Romero was assassinated, the four American churchwomen were killed and, unfortunately, this country was covertly involved in the unrest. Eileen was deeply inspired by the Jehovah’s Witnesses from Cuba who had lost everything because they refused military service.

She went back to Brooklyn as pastoral associate in St. Malachy’s parish where there was a high immigrant population from the Islands and Central and South America.

Eileen became involved in helping them get jobs, learn English and deal with their immigrant status. In the course of this, she became accredited by the Department of Justice to represent people in immigration court. Under the amnesty program that had begun, people who had lived in the United States since 1980 could get legal status. Eileen helped people who had been in hiding to take advantage of this.

During these years, Eileen had become an active member of Pax Christi and was involved in the anti-war, anti-nuclear and peace movements. She joined the community Non-violence Committee. As its work progressed, the committee saw a need for a lawyer within the group. Eileen was the obvious choice. She attended CUNY and got her law degree.

With other members of the group, Eileen protested the training of military at the School of the Americas whose military personnel were used to suppress people who were opposed to autocratic governments.

Eileen joined the Legal Aid Society and assisted immigrants with issues of housing, public benefits, domestic violence and immigration court proceedings. She did this for more than 20 years.

After retiring, Eileen has not retired! She now works in the Long Island Immigration Clinic where she helps people to navigate the complexities of immigration laws. She reviews cases and works directly with people seeking asylum in the United States.

The situation is difficult right now but S. Eileen still has hope. She is encouraged by the people she meets and works with who are so concerned for others and try to make things better. “Many of them live the gospel without ever having had the gospel preached to them”, she says.

In her life there have been so many people with so many needs, so many cultures from so many neighborhoods, so many experiences and so many relationships. “It has been gift, pure gift” she says, “I love it”.