Sister Spotlight Fall 2023

Sister Danelle McCarthy entered the Sisters of St. Dominic in 1954 and will celebrate her 70th year as a Caldwell Dominican in 2024. Sister Danelle’s vocation was nurtured by her parents and family members who provided her with the love and example of a wonderful Catholic home life. As a young student, her love of God and vocation to religious life developed while attending St. John the Baptist Elementary School and St. Dominic Academy in Jersey City, New Jersey, which were staffed by Dominican Sisters of Caldwell.

Sr. Danelle enjoyed her studies and excelled as a student earning a bachelor’s degree in social studies and education from Caldwell University (then College), a master’s degree in history from Notre Dame University, and post-graduate certificates in administration from Seton Hall University and New Jersey City University (Jersey City State University). 

Sister’s ministry in Catholic education includes the Archdiocese of Newark and the Dioceses of Paterson and Trenton in New Jersey, the Dioceses of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Mobile, Alabama, and the Diocese of Nassau, Bahamas. Her leadership skills in administration and dedication to ensuring an environment supportive to faculty, students, and parents led to her many years as principal of four Catholic elementary schools. Upon retirement, Sister Danelle continued to volunteer in local Catholic schools' offices and served as coordinator for St. Catherine Convent, Caldwell.

Her leadership and ministry in social justice and peace is well known as she has held the position of justice representative of the Caldwell Dominicans. She is an outspoken advocate for the downtrodden, a peace activist to end conflicts of war and violence, a spokesperson in addressing the incarceration of persons seeking asylum in the US, and one who has publicly demonstrated by joining various groups in protests for social justice causes. In her gracious manner of sharing her gifts with her constituents, she has been faithful in writing an annual grant request to the Dominican Sisters in Committed Collaboration (OPSCC) for funds to aid the First Friends of New Jersey and New York, whose mission is to assist incarcerated detainees while they await legal assistance for admission to the United States as asylum seekers. Finally, Sister is an active member of the Caldwell Dominican’s Commission on Global Issues and sits on the Economic Justice Subcommittee. One can always count on her enthusiastic participation through sharing her knowledge and insights along with her eagerness in translating discussions into action.

In her work while principal of St. Francis School, Abaco, Bahamas, Sister Danelle was very helpful in responding to the needs of the children, particularly the Haitian boys and girls who had migrated from their country. She recently accepted an invitation from the Felician Sisters who maintain a center in Haiti to tutor Haitian youth interested in learning English. She volunteers, using Zoom technology, to tutor English to a young Haitian man who lives in Haiti. Her technology skills are improving greatly! Sister has also joined in tutoring English to Spanish members of the local parish, St. Aloysius, in Caldwell. This program grew out of an initiative from the recent congregational assembly and is a wonderful example of collaboration in meeting the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We are happy for the life of dedication and service Sr. Danelle McCarthy, OP, continues to share with her congregation and the wider community in which she serves. The cliché “It takes a village” underscores the reality that the persons who are part of the village are so vital to be the visionaries, the enthusiasts, the active participants who bring about progress in making this world a better place to live the gospel message “Go, and do likewise.” Sister Danelle is such an example!