'It's my happy place': Two Catholic nuns keep teaching tradition alive at Erie school

Students at Blessed Sacrament School sometimes question Erie Benedictine Sister Katherine Horan and Sister of St. Joseph Linda Fusco about their lives as Catholic nuns.

The students have asked if they ever go out to eat ("Yes, but not often," Fusco said.) and if they wear habits ("I have never worn one," Horan said.).

"I had one student ask if I get along with everybody I live with," said Horan, Blessed Sacrament's principal. "I said that when you live with 70 or so women in the same building, you do have opportunities ... but you have to work it out."

Some grandparents of today's Blessed Sacrament students can remember when nuns staffed every Erie Catholic school, doling out homework, prayers and discipline in equal measures.

But that was decades ago, before the Second Vatican Council asked religious communities to modernize — which allowed nuns to work in more ways to benefit society. Later on, dwindling enrollment forced those communities to focus on other vocations, including providing care for their older members.

Horan and Fusco, who teaches advanced math at Blessed Sacrament, are the only nuns teaching regularly or serving as an administrator at an Erie Catholic school, according to Erie Diocesan officials.

"I’m very proud of the dedicated and generous lay people who have followed in (the women religious') footsteps in our schools," said Jim Gallagher, the diocese's superintendent of Catholic schools. "But having two women religious at Blessed Sacrament does bring a different dimension into the lives of the students who know them, giving them a first-hand experience of a vocation that has long been cherished by the Catholic Church."

Horan felt calling to teach while still a student

Horan, 59, felt a calling to teach while attending Catholic schools in Pottstown, where nuns from many different religious orders taught classes and stressed the importance of education.

After earning a degree in elementary education and special education at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Horan — then known as Miss Horan — started her teaching career at Blessed Sacrament.

She also become involved with the Erie Benedictine sisters, working on spiritual and environmental projects. The more time she spent around them, the more she realized her second vocation, religious life.

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"A lot of credit goes to women like (former Blessed Sacrament principal) Sr. Mary Alice Reed and (former Erie Benedictine Prioress) Sr. Christine Vladimiroff," Horan said. "They were so instrumental in helping me to where I am today."

Fusco, a single mom, became a nun and teacher in her 40s

While Horan knew at a young age that she wanted to educate children, Fusco's path to becoming a teacher was as circuitous as the single mother and grandmother's road to religious life.

Fusco worked many different jobs as a bookkeeper and accountant while raising her son, Eric, in Sharon. It was during a retreat when, at the age of 42, she felt a calling to become a nun.

"I told my son and he wasn't surprised," Fusco said. "He was 19 when I entered religious life and we were both living with my parents."

As Fusco prepared to take her final vows with the Sisters of St. Joseph, she met with the community's leaders to discuss her job.

"I figured that I would continue working as an accountant at the bank," Fusco said with a laugh. "They said no, it has to fit with our ministries. We talked about different options and they said, 'What about teaching?'"

Fusco attended Gannon University and began teaching as a trainee at Blessed Sacrament in 1996. Twenty-seven years later, she instructs advanced math classes for students in grades three through six.

Aside from being the only nun teaching regularly at Erie Catholic schools, the 73-year-old Fusco is also one of the system's oldest teachers. When the subject is mentioned, Horan interjects, 'Don't say retirement!'"

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"The kids keep me young, and I love what I do," said Fusco, who teaches morning classes and usually works until early afternoon. "I have been teaching pre-algebra to sixth graders for the past two years. I had to relearn that in order to teach them. It keeps me on my toes."

Horan taught science, language arts and religion before moving into administration relatively early in her career.

She has served as an assistant principal at several Erie Catholic schools before being named principal at St. Jude School in early 2021, then returning to Blessed Sacrament as its principal in 2022

"We have students here who are the children of the students I taught at Blessed Sacrament in 1989," Horan said. "In fact, I have at least one family where it's three generations."

Teaching is more of a ministry than a job

Horan and Fisco both said they consider teaching more of a ministry than a job and are thrilled to share their faith with the students and staff.

The most difficult aspect, according to Horan, is fitting her other duties with the Erie Benedictines into her work schedule.

"We are a prayer community, and we pray together three times a day: 6:30 in the morning and 5:30 in the afternoon, and we have noon prayers, too," Horan said. "It can be a challenge to be there."

But the benefits far outweigh the challenges, both women said. For Horan, it's a chance to be an educational and spiritual leader like the women religious she knew as a student in Pottstown.

Asked what the best part of her job was, Fusco's answer was simple and direct.

"I love being here with the kids. It's my happy place," Fusco said.

Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNBruce.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie PA Blessed Sacrament: Catholic nuns keep teaching tradition alive