Cathy O’Connor

Sr. Catherine is a member of the Congregation of St. Brigid, an international community founded in Ireland. She currently serves as the Congregational Leader.

Prior to being called to Congregational Leadership, Sr. Cathy served as Vice President for Mission and Sponsorship at Covenant Health in Tewksbury, MA. As a member of the interdisciplinary corporate leadership team, she provided strategic direction on the alignment and integration of mission and values in Covenant Health. She ensured development and implementation of formation programs in the areas of mission & sponsorship, Catholic identity, ethics and social justice.

Prior to joining Covenant Sr. Cathy served as Senior Vice President, Mission Integration & Organizational Development at Caritas Christi Health Care, Boston. Sr. Cathy was a member of the faculty of the Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas, and taught as adjunct faculty at Boston College, Saint Pope John XXIII Seminary in Weston, MA, and the MAM program at St. John’s Seminary in Boston. She served on staff as a Psychologist at the Danielsen Institute at Boston University and has been extensively involved in education, leadership development and pastoral ministry.

Sr. Cathy developed the Lay Ministry Institute at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, and has administered Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) programs. She has served on the national certification commission of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC), the accreditation board of ministry programs for the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), the board of Catholic Charities in San Antonio, Texas, and the board of the Catholic United investment Trust (CUIT), representing 300 Religious Congregations, and has been a member of the CHA (Catholic Health Association) board. She has consulted and lectured nationally and internationally in Ireland, England, Wales, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia.

Sr. Cathy has a Ph.D. in psychology from Boston University, an MA in Mental Health Counseling from St. Mary’s University in in San Antonio, Texas and an MTS in Historic-Systematic Theology from the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. She is a licensed psychologist, a certified CPE supervisor, and a Diplomate in the American Psychotherapy Association. She has a certification in Organizational Development from Linkage/DePaul University, and is a certified coach. Sr. Cathy studied at Louvain, Belgium and did cross-cultural study of Spanish Language and Culture in Ecuador, Mexico City, Cuernavaca and Chiapas, Mexico.