SOAR! celebrates religious life in Los Angeles

From left is board member John Coleman, honorees Bud Scully and Sister Joyce Meyer, and SOAR! president Sister Kathleen Lunsmann.

LOS ANGELES — At a May 20 reception at The California Club, Support Our Aging Religious, or SOAR!, honored Francis “Bud” Scully and Sister Joyce Meyer, PBVM for their contributions to and advocacy of Catholic religious life.

Proceeds from this event benefited SOAR!, which offers grants to meet the immediate needs of aging Catholic sisters, brothers and priests across the United States.

Mr. Scully founded Financial Guaranty Insurance Brokers Inc. and serves as its chair. A product of Catholic education, he has always admired and supported those in consecrated life. This includes his late sister, Society of the Holy Child Jesus Sister Mary Joel Scully.

Sister Joyce, a Presentation Sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary, previously served as executive director of the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters, a grant-making organization that supports the works of Catholic sisters globally. Currently she is a consultant to organizations who work with Sisters, particularly in Africa and Asia.

“It is a humbling honor because it has seemed little effort and great joy for me to partner with the many women religious around the world who give their lives serving others,” she said.

At the dinner, the Guadalupan Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in Los Angeles also received the J. Thomas McCarthy Memorial Grant. This grant of $16,000 will provide funds for specialized beds in their infirmary.

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