Discover how a layover in Manila, Philippines, led to the capture and three-year imprisonment of a group of Holy Cross missionaries, including two Sisters of the Holy Cross, in the recently released work Soldiers of a Different Cloth: Notre Dame Chaplains in World War II.
The book, written by New York Times best-selling author, military historian and University of Notre Dame alumnus John F. Wukovits, recounts the wartime contributions of 35 Notre Dame chaplains and missionaries, among them Holy Cross Sisters M. Olivette (Whelan), and M. Caecilius (Roth), who brought “comfort, faith, and friendship to the young soldiers they served.”
For his research, Wukovits relied on the office of Congregational Archives and Records at Saint Mary’s, which provided the sisters’ diaries and letters that served as primary sources about their experiences. Their accounts are interspersed throughout the book, along with those of several priests and brothers of Holy Cross who were chaplains in the South Pacific and Europe.
Published by University of Notre Dame Press, the book is available for viewing in the Congregation’s archives. It also is available for purchase at various booksellers.
