Current Ministry Location: Maryknoll Sisters Center-Maryknoll, NY
Sister Margaret Rose was born in Queens, NY on August 7th, 1942 to Agnes (Kelly) Ibe and Melvin Ibe. In 1960, Sister Margaret Rose graduated from St. Michaels Academy in Queens. She then entered the Congregation at the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate in Valley Park, MO on September 2nd, 1967, from St. Patrick’s Parish, Bay Shore, Long Island, NY. She pronounced First Vows on October 30th, 1970, and Final Vows on August 27th, 1978, both at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.
From 1969-1972, she served at the Sisters Center in the Treasury Department, local bursar’s office, and as a Receptionist on the Center switchboard. During this time she also studied for her B.S.E., which she received from Mary Rogers College in Maryknoll, NY in 1972.
Sister Margaret Rose’s first foreign mission assignment was to Indonesia in 1972. After language study in Bandung, she taught short courses on home economics and budgeting. From 1974-1976 she served as a staff member in KUPERDA, an organization for the education of village leaders,.
She returned to the Sisters Center, Maryknoll,NY in 1976, where she completed a Year of Reflection and earned an M.A. in Religious Studies from the Maryknoll Graduate School of Theology in 1977. Following graduation, Sister Margaret Rose became involved in literacy training, human rights group work, and was a staff member of the Brazilian Bishops Program of International Study Days. She also worked several days a week at an outreach program sponsored by the Department of Community Medicine of St. Vincent’s Hospital, New York City.
In 1978, Sister Margaret Rose received her second foreign assignment, this time to Peru. Following a year of language study in Cochabamba, she began serving in the Ciudad de Dios Parish in Lima, where she worked in adult education and community organization with women. She also served on the Vicariate Commission of Human Rights for 18 years, until the vicariate was made into the Diocese of Lurin. At that time, she was named Directress of the diocesan Human Dignity Commission. The Commission operates four Centers of Access to Justice for low- or no-income people, with a total of 10 legal offices and four Resolution of Conflict offices. They also have a multidisciplinary education team that gives workshops for leaders from most of the 37 parishes in the diocese. They include themes such as ethics and values, children’s and women’s rights, adolescence and women’s issues, and topics related to the family.
Sister Margaret Rose served in Peru for 41 years! She was involved with human rights advocacy on the local, metropolitan and national levels, both church and civic. She has been actively involved in the “building of the city of God” in the Lurin Diocese on the southern outskirts of Lima.
“During my years in mission, I have always been blessed-graced with many opportunities for faith-sharing relationships with the people,” Sister Margaret Rose says. She is lovingly called “Hermana Marita,” an endearment the Peruvians gave to her.
In 2017, due to medical issues, Sister Margaret Rose retired at the the Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.