During Catholic Sisters Week, March 8-14, 2025, we honor women religious and recognize the countless ways Sisters have shaped communities through prayer, ministry, and acts of compassion. From labor injustices to the silent suffering of the poor, Catholic Sisters have stood at the forefront, embodying Christ’s call to serve the most vulnerable.

Sister Carol Anne Messina’s journey in social justice began in South Plainfield, New Jersey, where she was born in 1937 and grew up with strong female role models who demonstrated the importance of civic engagement and activism. From an early age, Carol Anne was a natural advocate. As a teenager, she boldly challenged her city council over public works negligence, and was ready to fearlessly hold those in power accountable for their actions. This spirit of activism led her to Nazareth College, where she pursued social work before joining the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in 1965.

At a memorial service, Sister Carol Ann Messina (left) and Sister Tess Browne hold posters with the names of religious women killed in El Salvador and of Salvadoran refugees who suffocated in a truck van in Texas in 1982

Her ministry with the SCNs took her from Kentucky to Virginia, where she worked in family services, and ultimately to Texas, where she found her life’s calling among Mexican-American farmworkers and Central American refugees. In Raymondville, Texas, she joined Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish’s pastoral team, focusing on social justice, community organization, and advocacy.

She became known in this community as “hermana sabe-lo-todo” or, “Sister Know-it-all” by the farmworkers. The nickname was not as a slight, but rather a recognition of her fearless leadership. She walked alongside them in the fields, through the decaying stench of cauliflower and the sharp bite of ripening onions, expanding the very concept of the Church through her presence.

In 1979, she became involved with the National Farm Workers Ministry, working directly with the United Farm Workers of America. She fought for farmworkers’ rights, lobbying for fair wages, securing workers’ compensation, and helping to ban the short-handled hoe, which had caused generations of laborers pain and suffering as it required them to stay hunched over for long periods of time. In her work, she also became affectionately known as Hermana Carolina, and her dedicated work to improving the quality of life for migrant farmworkers left a lasting impression among the community.

 “When farmworkers file an Unemployment Compensation claim, we remember that she knew two days before her death that we had won our class action suit which paved the way for a new law. Carol helped us work against pesticides in the fields, and it is now a year since the Right-to-Know law became effective, and workers are learning about protecting themselves in the fields…”

Juanita Valdez Cox, a farmworker and organizer from San Juan, TX

Sister Carol Anne Messina died young, at just 48, from liver and kidney failure. Yet, she remained relentlessly committed to the mission until the end.

“When I think of Sister Carol Anne, the word ‘witness’ comes immediately to mind. Witnessing to Christ is what being a Christian is all about, and she did just that in one of the most difficult tasks we face here in the Valley,” said Bishop John J. Fitzpatrick, in a memorial piece reflecting on her life. “She is an inspiration to me and to other religious and priests here. No doubt from heaven she will continue to push us to constant concern and action for our sisters and brothers around us.”

This Catholic Sisters Week, we celebrate Sister Carol Anne Messina and all Women Religious who have dedicated their lives to justice. Their work was never about recognition, but about answering Christ’s call to love and serve. And in the fields of Texas, in the stories of those she touched, and in the continued fight for equality, Sister Carol Anne’s mission lives on.