Profile of the Leadership Team

Sister Philomena McCluskey – Assistant Congregational Leader Secretary General

Sister Philomena joined the Franciscan Missionaries of St. Joseph at the age of 17. She is a trained Social Worker and Counsellor and spent over fifty years in the services of Salford Catholic Children’s Rescue Society in the work of fostering and adoption. In May 2000 she was awarded the Medal of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to children. Sister Philomena officially retired from Catholic Children’s Rescue Society but is now widely used as a Consultant to the Society in various capacities. She is a member of the Management Teams of two homes run by the Society for single mothers, a member of the Adoption Panel, and since October 2005, a Trustee of Catholic Children’s Rescue Society. Her knowledge and experience of childcare is legendary in the local area and she maintains numerous links with children sustained over many years.

Sister Philomena served as a Trustee from 1999-2005 and was re-elected in 2005.
Sister currently serves the Congregation as Child Protection Officer. She is also Secretary General and Assistant Congregational Leader. Beyond the Congregation she is widely involved with childcare issues and a member of the Commission for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (COPCA)

Sister Margaret McGrath

Sister Margaret was 18 when she entered the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionaries of St. Joseph. Her early years were spent using her secretarial and musical skills in the service of local communities and Catholic Children’s Rescue Society. It was in working for CCRS that Sister Margaret gained experience in finance and in 1975 she was appointed as Congregational Bursar, a position she held for eighteen years.

When Sister Margaret finished her sixth term as Bursar she went to study at Franciscan International Study Centre and then to St. Bonaventure’s University in the United States. Here she gained both a BA and MA in Franciscan Studies and then returned to the UK to become a member of staff at the Franciscan International Study Centre. In 1996 she became Director of Franciscan Studies and in 1999 Vice Principle of the Centre. She has written articles in a number of Franciscan publications and is considered an authority on the lives of Francis and Clare. She is the person with Franciscan expertise on the Leadership Team and is responsible for raising the profile of our Franciscan heritage in the Congregation. She is also widely respected as a Spiritual Director and Retreat Director both within our Congregation, in the Canterbury area where she lives and work, and in other parts of the country.

At present she is Vice Principal and Director of Sabbaticals at the Study Centre.    Sr. Margaret’s main areas of interest are Franciscan History, Franciscan Spirituality, Franciscan Third Order Regular and Secular. She is a team member of the Spiritual Direction Training Programme held each year at the Centre.