Expanding Pro-Life Ministry: Welcome Dorothy Reece, Diocesan Pro-Life Coordinator/Liaison!
Dear friends and pro-life leaders across the diocese, I am excited to announce that Bishop Malone appointed Mrs. Dorothy Reece our Diocesan Pro-Life Coordinator/Liaison!
For the past two years, I have been blessed to serve in Pro-Life ministry as part of my responsibilities as Director of Pastoral Ministry and it is a ministry that is very important to me. Given my desire to grow Pro-Life ministry in our diocese, I have envisioned adding someone to our team to help give this ministry even more attention. So I pitched the idea of recruiting a new team member for this role, Bishop Malone gave his blessing, and on September 1, it became a reality. Thank you Bishop Malone for affirming this need and being a staunch witness to the Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life.
Dorothy is truly culturally competent having lived in Hawaii on Lanai (the “Dole Pineapple” island) and Oahu, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Louisiana where much of her family resides.
She graduated from Delhi High School and ULM (formerly NLU) where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing after which she had a diverse and successful career for 40 years as a staff and later administrative nurse.
Dorothy told us, “As long as I can remember, I’ve had a desire to serve or help others - it was ingrained in me as a child as I helped care for my younger siblings; I believe it is a great honor and a blessing. The Nursing Theorist, Jean Watson, who proposed the ‘Theory of Human Caring’ was a big influence in my career. But I was also influenced by one CEO who demonstrated the virtues of being a ‘Quiet Leader’; he happened to have worked with Jean Watson in using her theory to reshape the mission and vision of a hospital system in Louisiana. One component of Watson’s four major concepts: The human being is defined as ‘…..a valued person in and of himself or herself to be cared for, respected, nurtured, understood and assisted’. I feel truly honored and blessed to now serve as the Pro-Life Coordinator/Liaison for the Diocese of Shreveport, and I will endeavor to do my best in God’s service.”
Dorothy is now the main diocesan contact for all things Pro-Life and she will communicate and collaborate with the Office of Pastoral Ministry as well as all of the various pro-life ministries across the diocese. If you have ideas or would like to communicate with Dorothy, her email address is prolifedioshreveport@dioshpt.org.
I believe having Dorothy in this role is going to help us take our Pro-Life efforts to a new level!