Guest Speakers
Sr. Dierdre ByrneSister Deirdre Byrne is an active missionary sister and superior of her community in Washington, DC. She is double board-certified in family medicine and general surgery. A native of the Washington, D.C., area, Sister Deirdre (known to many as Sister Dede) is one of eight siblings, the youngest being Bishop William Byrne of the Springfield Diocese. After college, Sister Dede followed in her thoracic surgeon father's footsteps and entered medical school at Georgetown University, where she eventually completed a surgical residency. During medical school in 1978, she joined the Army. While working in both missionary and military service in far-ranging areas, she was led to the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts community, whose charism involves placing each and every person she cares for between the Heart of Jesus and Mary. The 130-year-old community includes 400 members worldwide.
By 2000, the board-certified Dr. Byrne made her commitment to the Little Workers and began her novitiate training in earnest. Her apostolate includes providing free medical care for the poor in Washington DC and performing overseas medical missionary surgery in Sudan, Iraq, Palestine, Kenya, and Haiti. Sister Dede retired with the rank of Colonel from the United States Army in 2009 after 29 years of service in the military. She was extremely grateful for the opportunity to have served such "brave soldiers", and her final deployment was to Afghanistan. Currently, she is the superior of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts house in Washington, DC, where the sisters run a pro-bono physical therapy clinic, diabetic eye clinic, medical -surgery clinic and a front-line prolife ministry including the Abortion Pill Reversal with 80% success. |
Dr. Leisa Marie Carzon
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