Sister Anne Veronica Horner Hoe, CSC
The Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated November 27 in the chapel of the Congonhas Cemetery in São Paulo, Brazil, immediately followed by burial in the Congregation’s plot. A Memorial Mass in the Church of Our Lady of Loretto at Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana was held on December 19, 2019.
Read the memories shared at Sister Anne’s memorial.
Sister Anne Veronica Horner Hoe, CSC
July 17, 1949 – November 26, 2019
Word has been received of the death of Sister Anne Veronica Horner Hoe, CSC, who died the morning of November 26, 2019, in Hospital Samaritano, São Paulo, Brazil. Sister Anne entered the Congregation from São Paulo on January 20, 1979. Her initial profession of vows took place on March 5, 1982.
Please join us in prayer for Sister as we renew our faith in the resurrected Jesus and strengthen our hope that all the departed will be raised to eternal life.
Anne Veronica Horner Hoe was born July 17, 1949, in Shanghai, China. She was the child of Justin Stanley Horner Hoe from Malaysia and Theresa Pearl Chow from China. She had a large extended family with whom she remained very close. Her father was a member of the Merchant Marine who eventually went into business running a restaurant. At an early age, Sister Anne was introduced to an emerging world of international and intercultural sensitivity and living. She matured into a highly energetic, gifted, enthusiastic and intense woman who lived over 40 years in a religious community and is remembered as a passionate educator committed to social justice.
The Horner Hoe family moved far from coastal China in the 1950s to settle in São Paulo, Brazil, where Sister Anne received her elementary and secondary education. Her name is pronounced “Annie” in Portuguese, the language of Brazil. She worked for 10 years in secretarial positions in the business sector prior to her initial connection with Irmãs da Santa Cruz, as the Sisters of the Holy Cross in Brazil are known. By 1985, Sister Anne had a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. She earned her bachelor’s degree in education administration in 1989. In 2009, she completed a post graduate dissertation on the actual needs of senior citizens in specialized institutions in São Paulo.
From the outset of her religious life in 1979, Sister Anne had the desire to study Scripture through the lens of liberation and to experience ministry in another country where Holy Cross women were challenged by situations of injustice. During her eight months in Bangladesh in 1986, and the month she spent in Uganda in July 1998, she wrote moving journals of her interior journeys while in Asia and Africa.
In 1992, Sister Anne participated in an exchange program of the Sisters of the Holy Cross that provided sisters opportunities to work outside their home countries. She was sent to the Diocese of Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Intermountain Catholic profiled her as the “Chinese-born school administrator from Brazil.” While in Utah, Sister Anne emphasized education as a key element for promoting justice and peace. She said, “As educators we have to hope for a just society. We hope our students will be builders of that society—a society of brotherhood and fraternity.” Sister Anne was instrumental in expanding the basic program and services at Colégio Santa Maria, São Paulo, where the Sisters of the Holy Cross serve over 3,300 students, including adults attending the night school who did not have an opportunity to study in their youth. Most of the students come from the slum areas or favelas of the largest city in South America.
Though her influence was primarily education as a means of human development in Brazil, Sister Anne served on many panels and advisory boards promoting justice and women’s empowerment. She worked largely with marginalized women, those who lived in the slums, and at-risk youth, as well as in parishes, forming Basic Christian Communities. From 1999 to 2004, she served as coordinator of the Area of South America, which includes Brazil and Peru.
At the time of her initial profession of vows in 1982, she proclaimed boldly, “I wish to share in the suffering of the poor, together with Mary, Mother of Sorrows… .” Throughout her life, Sister Anne heard the cry of the poor, who now welcome her home in communion with all the saints. Sister died at Hospital Samaritano, São Paulo the morning of November 26 and was buried at Congonhas Cemetery in São Paulo the following day.
We invite you to donate to the Ministry With the Poor Fund in Sister’s name.
Written by Sister M. Adria (Connors), CSC
