It is with great sadness that we announce the death of RCWP Bishop Patricia Fresen. Patricia passed away on September 3rd after being hospitalized due to a sudden illness. Please see below for further reflections on her life and information about her funeral service.
Rev. Dr. Patricia Fresen was born in South Africa, studied theology in Rome at the University of St. Thomas and the Gregoriana, and was then invited to join the faculty of the National Seminary in Pretoria. She later completed the Doctorate in Theology and after that she taught theology at the Catholic University in Johannesburg. However, as a direct result of her ordination to the priesthood in 2003, Dr. Fresen was forced to leave the Dominican Order, of which she had been a member for 45 years; and she had to vacate her position at Catholic University. She subsequently left her homeland to take up residence in Germany. In recent years, Dr. Fresen returned to South Africa. Ordained a bishop in 2005, Dr. Fresen ordained many women priests in Europe, Canada, the USA and South Africa. She was a well-respected conference speaker and retreat leader in all those countries.
Funeral Service
Bishop Patricia's funeral service will take place on Monday, September 9th, at 9:00am ET. Please join us in celebrating her life and legacy.
Funeral Service Link: https://youtube.com/live/Bg7dacgrQyA?feature=share
From Monica:
Patricia was one of our first bishops, ordaining many of us in North America in the early part of the Roman Catholic Womenpriest movement. She was an extremely important person in the development of the RCWP movement (and St Brigid’s!), and was instrumental in bringing the movement from Europe to Canada and the U.S., as she was English-speaking and able/willing to travel. For a time, Patricia was Bishop for Canada. Many in St. Brigid’s will remember Patricia well with fondness and gratitude. Patricia came to Calgary a number of times. My younger daughter Genevieve was confirmed by Patricia during one of those episcopal visits in 2009 (the first confirmation Patricia did) during a wonderful community gathering! (Community members Fred and Catherine Williams were Genny‘s confirmation sponsors.)
Let us hold Patricia and her family and Dominican community in our minds and hearts and prayers as she returns to Original Love and Glory, knowing she will now be our advocate from the other side of the veil!
-- Monica
If you would like to learn more about Patricia's life, you can watch the tribute video that was made in honour of her 80th birthday in 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdlaIdscUWw
Comentários