Saint Mother Marianne Cope will be honored at a new Shrine and Museum at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, the healthcare center she founded. Her legacy and life has been brought through the forefront in recent years following the Canonization process and her confirmation to Sainthood at the Vatican. There’s been confirmed evidence she healed ill patients.
The Hospital’s President and CEO, Kathryn Ruscitto says the Shrine and Museum will bring people closer to the Saint.
”This part of our history, I think, is now more present to people. They have the opportunity to really understand who she was as a woman, as a founder of a hospital, as a leader in healthcare.”
St. Marianne Cope’s presence is still felt within the hallways of the hospital, according to Sister Roberta Smith of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.
“I think for the local Catholics here in Central New York, it encourages them. I think it makes them excited that one of your own, an ordinary person that walked these sidewalks is recognized globally for her goodness. So, I think that is an exciting thing.”
A ‘Virtual Groundbreaking’ was held on St. Cope’s Birthday. Sister Smith and St. Joseph's Ruscitto swung hammers at a large projection screen. A photo of the hospital’s former radiology building was projected. A visual effect of glass breaking over the image of the building was their idea of an out of season groundbreaking. The 5,500 square foot Shrine and Museum is scheduled to open in May.
