By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami

Photographer: DANIEL SO�� | FC

Sister Elizabeth Worley is shown here posing with Archbishop Thomas Wenski after he received his pallium in Rome.

MIAMI � Doing one thing at a time does not seem to be part of God�s plan for Sister Elizabeth Worley.

A few years into her teaching career as a Sister of St. Joseph, the Jacksonville native went back to school to get a degree in chemistry.

�I did sophomore, junior and senior chemistry courses in one year simultaneously,� recalled Sister Worley, who got her degree from Barry University in 1973.

A decade later, when she was asked to join the board of directors of Mercy Hospital in Miami, which is sponsored by her community, she decided to go back to school for a master�s degree in business administration.

She began the two-and-a-half year program while teaching chemistry at Hollywood�s Madonna High School and completed it while serving as chair of Mercy�s board � and still graduated as valedictorian of her class at the University of Miami. The salutatorian, she says, likes to tell people that he graduated �second to nun.�

Nearly 20 years later, Sister Worley was again doing two jobs at once: Finishing up her 19-year stint as chair of Mercy�s board and beginning a two-year stretch as chief executive officer of Catholic Hospice.

She was still with hospice when Bishop Thomas Wenski called from Orlando and asked her to serve as his chancellor for administration and chief operating officer. She started the job in February 2007 but remained with hospice until a new chief operating officer was appointed.

�The turnpike and I were old friends,� she said, recalling how she went back and forth between Miami and Orlando �every other week.�

The intrastate commute continued this summer. On July 15, Archbishop Wenski announced her appointment as chancellor for administration and chief operating officer for the Archdiocese of Miami � but her duties in Orlando ended Sept. 30.

�I tended to do this in my lifetime,� she said. �God calls. You answer. Literally, it just keeps coming. There�s a need. You respond to the need. It�s service of Church. It�s obedience.�

NO REGRETS

At 64, Sister Worley says she has absolutely no regrets. She joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine at the age of 17 and never looked back.

�I can remember when I was five. I knew then I was going to be a Sister of St. Joseph, with whatever certainty a five-year-old could have. It�s all I�ve ever wanted to be,� she said.

Teaching was another passion. �I loved teaching school. I nearly died when I was taken out of the classroom. I would have been happy teaching chemistry for the rest of my life.�

She began teaching in 1970, middle-school science and English at St. Mary Cathedral School in Miami. Then came eight years teaching high school chemistry and college-level organic chemistry at Immaculata-La Salle High School in Miami, where students called her �Sister Red� for the color of her hair.

From 1981 to 1988, she taught the same subjects to girls and boys from Madonna Academy and Chaminade College Preparatory in Hollywood, which later merged into Chaminade-Madonna College Prep.

Eileen Lopez Tom� was one of those students. A Madonna graduate and now an attorney, she took chemistry with Sister Worley in 1986. The two have kept in touch over the years.

�She had no patience for nonsense and she had no compunction about calling you out if you weren't paying attention or focused on the lesson,� Lopez Tom� recalled. �She expected everyone to be equally prepared, no excuses. Whether you had a knack for science or not was irrelevant. She expected you to excel.

�For a girl who had a way with words but struggled miserably in math and science, this was very empowering,� Lopez Tom� continued. �She's a person of tremendous integrity who makes no apologies about being assertive and does not shy away from taking the lead.�

BEST PRACTICES

Those are qualities that come in handy when running businesses, even Church businesses such as Mercy Hospital and Catholic Hospice. It was the kind of experience that led Bishop Wenski to offer her the job in Orlando, and now in Miami.

�I need a strong administrator to come in and handle the day-to-day operations of the archdiocese,� Archbishop Wenski said, noting that Sister Worley can bring the �best practices� of the business world to the daily administration of the archdiocese, all with one goal in mind: �The money should follow the mission and not the other way around.�

By all accounts, Sister Worley has left the Diocese of Orlando in great financial shape, even amid these difficult economic times.

�She has a great capacity to absorb the details of any project, whether historical, financial, or administrative, and seeks to ask, �Why?� in the process of evaluation,� said Carol Brinati, director of communications for the diocese. �Her commitment is reflected in the late night e-mails she distributes before rest, never leaving a stone unturned in her pursuit for excellence in all she endeavors.�

Sister Worley sees her role as bringing �that dynamic of good business practices to the work of the Church. And it is not for the sake of the business. It is for the sake of the mission.�

Among the �best practices� cited by both Sister Worley and Archbishop Wenski are zero-based budgeting, the establishment of a human resources department in the Pastoral Center and educating pastors and priests about administration, �to avoid mistakes and set productive patterns going forward,� Sister Worley said.

�Miami is much more complex than Orlando, and the temporal issues here are much more complex,� she added. �We�re going to need to take some prayer and the best and sharpest minds that we can bring to the table to take a look at the temporal challenges facing the archdiocese.�

She figures her new position will require at least 60-plus hours a week of work � but if the past 47 years are any indication, she�s used to it.

�Each time, (God) has led me in a direction where I would never have gone,� she said. �He picked me up and moved me. I have been blessed with the faith and the grace to move with that.�