Obituary of Sister Sally Butler, Advocate for Children’s Rights

Obituary: Sister Sally Butler, Advocate for Children’s Rights

Sister Sally Butler, a dedicated nun, social worker, and tireless activist, who courageously exposed the sexual abuse of children in the parish where she served, passed away on October 6 at the residence of her order, the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, located in Suffolk County, New York. She was 93 years old. According to her niece, Kate Morris, the cause of death was attributed to a sudden respiratory illness.

In the late 1960s, Sister Butler was teaching high school and residing in her convent when she, along with two other nuns, was invited to participate in an innovative experiment at the Church of St. Michael and St. Edward in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. This initiative involved a collaborative ministry with three priests, aimed at serving the tenants of the surrounding housing projects. The program was designed to help the Black and Latino community connect with vital social services and to provide various forms of supportā€”pastoral responsibilities that had traditionally been assigned to male clergy. It was 1968, a time marked by social upheaval yet filled with optimism, and their groundbreaking assignment garnered attention in both the media and the diocese.

Sister Butler found immense fulfillment in this work. She developed a particularly strong bond with a single mother named Ramona Cruz and her young son, Carlos. When Ms. Cruz fell ill and ultimately passed away in 1974, 12-year-old Carlos’s first call was to Sister Butler, who had promised to care for him. Carlos was welcomed into the rectory, where he lived with the priests and spent time with several other boys who helped with chores around the church. The boys often engaged in roughhousing with the priests, who would playfully dump buckets of ice down their pantsā€”an activity they referred to as ā€œthe ice gameā€ā€”or give them ā€œpink bellies,ā€ a playful act of slapping the boys’ stomachs until they turned a bright shade of red. At the time, it all seemed harmless, and Carlos appeared to be thriving, affectionately calling Sister Butler ā€œMom.ā€

However, as the years progressed into the late 1970s, the initial excitement of the experiment began to wane, particularly within the internal dynamics of the ministry. Tensions arose between the priests and the nuns, particularly with Father Brian Callahan, who was known for his explosive temper. When Sister Butler bravely reported his alcohol abuse to church officials, she faced retaliation; Father Callahan dismissed her and Sister Georgianna Glose, evicting them from the rectory. Sister Sheila Buhse, the third nun involved, had already left a year prior due to her own challenges with Father Callahan.

Following their dismissal, Sister Butler and Sister Glose relocated to a nearby apartment, while Carlos moved in with relatives. The two nuns continued their commitment to social work, establishing social service centers and earning degrees in social work. Despite their separation from the rectory, they maintained their connection to the community, frequently attending Mass at their former church.

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