Sr. Patricia Eck, CBS, has received a top papal honor from the Vatican in recognition of her service to the Catholic Church. She is the congregational leader of the Sisters of Bon Secours of Paris, based in Marriottsville, Md., and she chairs Bon Secours Ministries, which sponsors Marriottsville-based Bon Secours Health System.
Sr. Eck received the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice during a Nov. 20 ceremony at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore. Archbishop Edwin Frederick O'Brien of Baltimore presented the award.
The Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice is the highest honor that the Vatican bestows on clergy and laypeople who have served the church in a distinguished way.
Sr. Eck has served the Catholic health ministry for more than 40 years, including in nursing, administration, sponsorship and governance roles in the Bon Secours system. She led the 2006 effort to establish Bon Secours Ministries as the public juridic person sponsor of the health system, helping to ensure greater lay involvement in the system's sponsoring body.
She is a former CHA board chair and a recipient of CHA's Sister Mary Concilia Moran Award, which recognizes visionary leaders who have advanced the Catholic health ministry.
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