Sister Ana Pia Cordua, SCTJM

As Sister Ana Pia Cordua, SCTJM, guided Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria throughout most of this decade, she was sometimes asked to take on additional duties in areas such as Respect Life and Hispanic ministry.

A diocesan office she has led since the departure of former director Shirley Plaag last summer — Evangelization and Faith Formation — is now her full-time job, according to appointments announced in July by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC. (See related story.)

“It goes a lot in tune with my own formation,” said Sister Ana Pia, a native of Nicaragua who has a master’s degree in education from Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts and a diploma in sacred Scripture from the Pontifical University in Mexico City in 2005.

“My studies were always in formation in education. So therefore, this is a continuation of what I did pretty much all my life,” said Sister Ana Pia, who was a lay religion teacher before entering the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1998 and continued teaching in Florida for a time after.

She is grateful for the new phase of overseeing faith formation in the diocese and serving as an aide to directors of religious education and catechists.

The Office of Evangelization and Faith Formation encompasses many ministries and programs. Among them are youth ministry, RCIA, marriage preparation and enrichment, as well as overseeing a host of annual diocese-wide events.

“There is almost one every month,” said Sister Ana Pia, listing Men’s March, Youth Rally, and Rite of Election among the annual events.

With the school year about to begin, Sister Ana Pia will next host a planning meeting for DREs on the evening of the Diocesan Catechetical Institute on Aug. 13.

In addition, she also serves on the Diocese of Peoria’s Beatification Planning Committee for Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and is charged with recruiting hundreds of volunteers for the ceremony.  The beatification date has yet to be announced by Pope Francis.

Saying she enjoyed her years directing Catholic Charities in the diocese, Sister Ana Pia is happy to continue to serve here.

“I’m just doing something different,” she said.