Sr. Mary Kate Birge stands with current and former members of the Theology Department at Mount St. Mary's University.
Sister Mary Kate Birge, SSJ, Ph.D. is preparing to enter a new chapter in life after retiring from Mount St. Mary’s University after over two decades of teaching, mentoring, and serving as a powerful presence both in the theology department and across campus.
As a Sister of St. Joseph, Birge brought to the university a vocation rooted in mission, community, and the desire “to unite neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with God.” Since she first arrived at the Mount in 2001, she has written chapter one in Genesis, Evolution, and the Search for a Reasoned Faith, multiple articles, including the one on “Colossians” in The Paulist Bible Commentary, and last year the president of the USCCB named her the first woman chair of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine’s Board of Control.
Birge, however, said her favorite part of her tenure at the Mount has been her daily interactions with students.
“I think the best thing about teaching is students and their energy,” she said. Her memories of the Mount are full of classroom moments, shared laughter, and the satisfaction of watching students grow in confidence. She especially treasures “the sheer joy of seeing a student succeed when the student themself didn’t think they could.” That kind of transformation, she said, is one of the most rewarding parts of teaching.
Birge taught Scripture and theology, areas that became the heart of her academic work. She taught foundational theology courses such as Synoptic Gospels, Made in God’s Image: Justice and Mercy, survey classes in the Old and New Testaments, and, once, Introduction to Hebrew. She also created a course called “Call and Response: Discipleship in the Bible and Contemporary World,” which gave first-year students a chance to engage Scripture in a serious but accessible way.
For many students taking one of Birge’s courses was their first interaction with a religious sister, though the history of religious orders and nuns teaching and working at the Mount spans as far back as the university’s founding. Now, Birge is the only remaining religious sister in the full-time faculty.
On May 6, faculty, friends and Mount community members gathered to celebrate Birge’s hard work and wish her well in her retirement. Birge spoke with appreciation for the people she has worked alongside for over 25 years.
“The Mount has been formative for me,” she said. “Formative for me as a teacher, formative for me as a theologian, formative for me as a human being. I would not trade it.”
As she looks toward retirement, Birge is considering future work in spiritual direction, adult faith formation, and other forms of ministry. She will remain in the Emmitsburg area for a while, taking time to think of what comes next. She summed up her approach simply with a line from her congregation: “Do not run ahead of grace.”
Sr. Mary Kate Birge is a teacher, mentor, and sister whose presence shaped the university in lasting ways. As she begins this next chapter, the Mount community wishes her well and sends her forward with gratitude, affection, and every blessing.