Dominican Sister of Peace Joan Monica McGuire, 90, died Nov. 21 in Kentucky.

Sister Joan served in the Archdiocese of Chicago as director of the Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs from 1987-1992 and from 1996 until she retired in 2013. 

Early in her tenure as director, she was very involved in establishing a covenant relationship between the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Archdiocese of Chicago. Sister Joan led the procession on Oct. 31, 2017, when Cardinal Cupich renewed this covenant with Bishop Wayne Miller of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod on the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Sister Joan was a delegate of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s Chicago Catholic-Jewish Dialogue visit to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and under the leadership of Cardinal Francis George, she co-directed “A Pilgrimage of Love” to Constantinople and Rome.

While serving in the archdiocese, Sister Joan was an instructor in the Institute of Pastoral Leadership at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein. She also served as a member of the joint working group of the World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission and as co-chair of the Illinois Council of Churches.

Sister Joan was instrumental in making the 1993 convening of the Parliament of the World’s Religions a reality and remained deeply involved in the parliament’s work for many years.

“Sister Joan was a wise, humble and compassionate leader who worked tirelessly to build lasting relationships among Christians and with people of the world’s religions,” said Susan Pudelek, assistant director of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s EIA Office. “She will be deeply missed by those who came to know and work with her. We all benefit today from her legacy of faithful leadership in the name of Jesus.”

As a testimony to her remarkable contributions to ecumenical and interreligious relations, the archdiocesan EIA Office named an award in her honor, which recognizes outstanding contributions to local Christian and interreligious dialogue.

“For more than three decades, Sister Joan McGuire expertly directed ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the Archdiocese of Chicago,” said Dan Olsen, director of the EIA Office. “Her pioneering and exemplary work helped build the deep relationships among religious communities in Chicago that persist to this day. The interreligious fabric of Chicago has forever been changed for the better because of Sister Joan.”

Born in Nebraska, Sister Joan entered the Dominican Congregation in 1955 and professed final vows in 1958 at St. Catharine, Kentucky.

She taught at St. Michael, Orland Park, and Academy of Our Lady.  She was elected president of the former Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine from 1972 to 1980 and served on their leadership board from 1992 to 1996.

In 2014, Sister Joan moved to St. Catharine Motherhouse, where she provided community service. In 2017, she moved to Sansbury Care Center, also in St. Catharine, where she began a ministry of prayer and presence.