Sister Jean Fryoux, CSJ, a Sister of St. Joseph
for 76 years, passed away at Mount St. Mary
Convent in Wichita, Kansas, on Thursday, Janu-
ary 16, at the age of 93. She was born in Baton
Rouge, La., the daughter of the late Frank Joseph
and Minnie Ethel Gibbens Fryoux. Sister Jean,
baptized Bernice Marie, had three sisters, Mrs.
John (Dorothy) McKinley, Mrs. George (June)
Delaune and the late Mrs. William (Ethel) Mor-
gan.
Sister Jean graduated from St. Joseph’s Acad-
emy in Baton Rouge in 1938 and entered the Sis-
ters of St. Joseph in New Orleans. She professed
perpetual vows in 1944. She received a BS in
Home Ec & Science at Incarnate Word College
in San Antonio, Certification in Math & Physics at Loyola University New Or-
leans and an M.A. in Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
She taught in Catholic elementary and high schools for 54 years beginning in
elementary education in 1940 at St. Ann and Our Lady of the Rosary schools in
New Orleans, La., followed by St. Joseph Parochial and St. Joseph’s Academy
in Baton Rouge. Beginning in 1950, Sister Jean taught at St. Joseph’s Academy
in Baton Rouge, Bay St. Louis, Miss., and New Orleans. She was a beloved
teacher and her last 30 years of teaching were in Baton Rouge at the Academy
where she also was diligent in overseeing maintenance needs of the school,
children’s home and convent. While teaching at SJA, she also served three years
as the superior at the convent.
In 1997, Sister Jean retired at St. Joseph Convent in Baton Rouge and in
2007, moved to Mount St. Mary’s Convent in Wichita.
Mass of Christian Burial was offered Monday, January 20, at 10:00 am at
Mount St. Mary Convent in Wichita. Burial will follow immediately in the con-
vent cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph c/o Sister Caro-
lyn Brady, CSJ at 3134 Hundred Oaks Avenue, Baton Rouge, La. 70808 or to
the Sr. Ursula Harelson & Sr. Jean Fryoux Endowed Fund for Science at St.
Joseph’s Academy, 3015 Broussard St., Baton Rouge, La. 70808.
Sister Mary Jean Fryoux, CSJ
Sr. Mary Jean Fryoux
By George Evans
Catholic Day at the Capitol is set for Wednesday, Feb. 19. Page 8 of this issue
features the primary legislative issue as determined by the Catholic Charities’ Pov-
erty Task Force, criminal justice reform.
The Task Force was established by legislation passed in 2013 to improve the
state’s corrections and criminal justice systems and set up on a bipartisan basis with
members from all stakeholders in the corrections and criminal justice systems. A re-
port released in December contains a comprehensive package of policy recommen-
dations which will be translated, at least in part, into legislation for consideration in
the 2014 legislative session.
Those attending Catholic Day will do so in support of legislation aimed at trying
to stop the incredibly expensive growth in prison population, improve public safety,
provide clarity in sentencing guidelines, provide and improve treatment programs
and reduce recidivism.
The keynote speaker for this year’s event is Father Fred Kammer, SJ, director
of the Jesuit Social Research Institute based at Loyola University, New Orleans.
Father Kammer is an expert in social justice and is an attorney and former director
of Catholic Charities USA. He has spoken in this diocese before and offers a very
dynamic and energizing presentation.
The second speaker is Deacon Allen Stevens of St. Peter Claver Parish in the
Archdiocese of New Orleans. Deacon Stevens has been involved in advocating for
criminal justice reform in his own community for many years, helping organize and
educate people about the cost of crime and incarceration.
I am writing to urge you to participate in this effort to improve the corrections
and criminal justice systems for the benefit of all of us, taxpayers, victims and des-
perate prisoners.
This is the fourth annual Catholic Day at the Capitol. We have addressed various
legislative issues embraced by Catholic Social Teachings including immigration,
mental health, education, child welfare and related issues. We have had some suc-
cesses and some failures. We have introduced a Catholic presence at the Legislature.
While in the past the day has drawn more than 130 people, we need to do more.
We need to double or triple the participation. We need to respond to Pope Francis’s
call to service when he said “How I would like a poor church, and for the poor” and
“authentic power is service.”
He has captured the world’s imagination and become
Time
magazine’s Person of
the Year after six months in the Chair of St. Peter. He has asked us “to get beyond
our comfort zones” and live with greater “apostolic fervor.”
Responding to the upcoming Catholic Day at the Capitol is a concrete way to
respond to the pope’s clarion call to quit being “couch potato” Christians and to
spread the church’s message of mercy, compassion and forgiveness, to reach out to
the poor and forsaken.
Pope Francis is pleading with us to make a difference in this world that is ours.
“Inconsistency on the part of the pastors and the faithful between what they say and
what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the Church’s cred-
ibility”. (Homily of Pope Francis, April 14, 2013).
This pope calls us to prayer, to sacrament, to worship, to evangelization and
to being involved and not just behind a desk as he told the bishops assembled in
Brazil that “we need a Church capable of walking at people’s side, of doing more
than simply listening to them; a Church which accompanies them on their journey.”
(Address of Pope Francis, July 28, 2013)
Registration is open on
. Click on the Catholic
Day link.
George Evans is a pastoral minister at Jackson St. Richard Parish.
Catholic Day at the Capitol
set for Feb. 19
Pray for an increase of vocations to the priesthood, to the
diaconate, and to the religious life, especially in the Diocese
of Biloxi.
10
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