Sister Cyril Mooney is renowned for her decades of work to improve education for the impoverished of Calcutta, India. Sister Cyril was initiated into the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Loreto order, in her native Ireland in 1955. She has been affiliated with the Loreto School of Calcutta almost all the years since.Launched during India’s days as a British colony, the English-speaking school catered to the country’s more affluent middle and upper classes. Sister Cyril became appalled at the poverty outside the walls of the Loreto School and altered its mission. Though it meant less income, she cut the number of fee-paying students in half when she became the leader of the school in 1979. The school then began admitting poor children, who attend for free. Years of similar outreach and service efforts have followed.
Current State speaks with Sister Cyril Mooney about her work.