Overview

• Sister Pat Murphy died on July 21 at age 96 after nearly five decades of activism in Chicago’s immigrant rights movement.
• She and Sister JoAnn Persch founded Su Casa Catholic Worker in the 1980s to provide sanctuary housing for refugees fleeing Central American conflicts.
• Beginning in 2007, Murphy joined Persch in weekly prayer vigils at the ICE Broadview processing center to protest deportations and offer spiritual care.
• Murphy helped pass the Illinois Religious Ministry Act in 2009, granting faith workers access to detention centers and expanding in-person ministry efforts.
• In 2022, she co-founded Catherine’s Caring Cause, which currently supports 17 immigrant families with housing, legal assistance and financial aid.