The University of Notre Dame's de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture on Oct. 4 announced that its 2027 Evangelium Vitae Medal would be awarded to the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne for what the center described as more than a century of "truth and love" serving poor and dying people.
The de Nicola Center said it would present the award to Mother Superior Marie Edward, O.P., during a special Mass and dinner at the university on April 24, 2027. This year's is the 16th annual award the center has presented.
Founded in 1900 by Mother Mary Alphonsa — born Rose Hawthorne, the daughter of famed novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne — the congregation is headquartered in Hawthorne, New York. The sisters there are devoted to caring for impoverished men and women dying from cancer.
Notre Dame President Father Robert Dowd, CSC, said in a press release that the sisters in their work "radiate the very mercy of God."
"Since their founding, they have proclaimed the Gospel of Life through direct service to God's beloved poor, fulfilling Christ's command to comfort the sick and give shelter to the homeless," Dowd said.
The sisters' ministry, he said, "highlights the inherent, God-given dignity of every human person, regardless of worldly success or social status."
Jennifer Newsome Martin, director of the ethics center at the school, likewise described the sisters as "a shining example of Christian charity in action."
The Evangelium Vitae medal is presented annually on Respect Life Sunday. It is named after Pope St. John Paul II's famed 1995 encyclical that testifies in part to the inherent dignity of human life and the need to care for and protect the most vulnerable.
Mother Mary Alphonsa died in 1926 and is buried at Rosary Hill Home at the congregation's headquarters. She was declared venerable by Pope Francis in 2024.
