Teaching was always passion for Maryknoll nun
Sister Jeanne Houlihan taught at Maryknoll Convent School for 56 years
Sister Jeanne Houlihan devoted 56 years to working as a teacher, supervisor and principal at Maryknoll Convent School, in Kowloon Tong, before retiring in 2011. But she was delighted last month to be back at the school, which was her home for more than half a century.
The American returned from New York to attend the Hong Kong premiere of Trailblazers in Habits, a 90-minute documentary made to mark last year’s centenary of the Maryknoll Sisters.
The Sisters, a group of Catholic religious women who devote their lives to service overseas, established the Hong Kong’s girls’ school, originally with only 12 students, in 1925. Its motto, Sola Nobilitas Virtus, means “Virtue Alone Ennobles”.
One theme of the documentary is the “spirit of giving”, said Houlihan, who started work teaching English, scripture and home economics at the school in 1955.
It was a wonderful opportunity to come here to help girls to be who they’re meant to be
“This means to serve others, to look at generosity, at courage, at the ability to risk, to go out and to try new things. That’s the spirit of Maryknoll.”
In 1922, six Maryknoll Sisters, dressed in sweeping grey habits, arrived in Hong Kong by steamer to start their mission. The Sisters would follow the establishment of Maryknoll Convent School with five more schools and a hospital in the city, and also help lay the foundations for Hong Kong’s social welfare system.