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Approximately ten years ago, before the trade center bombings and second war with Iraq brought Christian-Muslim understanding into focus, Sister Mollie Reavis, a teacher at St. Mary’s Academy, was already working to become sensitive to the Muslim religion. Reavis, SHJM (Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary), recently was presented with an award plaque by Wajdi Said, co-founder of the Muslim Educational Trust to thank her for her long friendship with the Trust.
Sister Mollie’s association with the Muslim Educational Trust began innocently enough. “We had a Muslim student at St. Mary’s who needed to graduate early and I thought it would be special to include a quote from the Qur’an in the ceremony we were preparing for her,” says Reavis, SNJM. “To make a long story short, my search led me to the Middle East Studies Center and the Muslim Educational Trust, where I met some Muslims who have become good friends of mine. The first phone call I received after 9/11 was from the family in Canada, calling to offer their condolences to me and ‘all of the people in the United States’.”
When Said and Reverend Chuck Cooper founded the Institute for Christian-Muslim Understanding (ICMU), Sister Mollie was invited to join and now serves as the Christian co-president. She has helped organize many ICMU presentations, the most recent being held at St. Mary’s Academy in September and titled “Jesus and Mary: Christian and Muslim Perspectives.” Each event includes a potluck dinner so that the participants can share discussion over a meal together.
“We’re very proud of Sister Mollie and the recognition she has received that reflects respect for other faiths and a desire to explore and understand different religions,” says Christina Friedhoff, president of St. Mary’s Academy.
Founded in 1859 by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, St. Mary’s Academy of downtown Portland, is Oregon’s oldest continuously operating secondary school and one of 716 all-female schools in the country. The student body represents a diverse background of young women from over 30 urban, suburban, and rural communities in Oregon and Southwest Washington. St. Mary’s Academy is distinguished by its development of the whole person, and is the only school in the state to receive three U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools awards.
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