Sister of Charity of Cincinnati Romina Sapinoso Professes Perpetual Vows
Sister of Charity of Cincinnati Romina Sapinoso professed perpetual vows during a Mass on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at the Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse (Delhi Township).
Due to the current precautions, only Sisters, Associates and invited guests were present with Sister Romina in the chapel for the ceremony. Friends of the Community were able to view the celebration via livestream. In their presence she vowed to “freely commit myself for life to the service of God, God’s people, and all of Creation as a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. … I ask for the grace of God and the continuing support of my Sisters, Associates, family, and friends, so that I may keep faith with the commitment that I joyfully make today.”
Sister Romina thanked all those who are and were in her life and helped to her Sisters, Associates, family and friends for nurturing her vocation through many years of unconditional love, encouragement and companionship. “I am here today because of your presence in my life, and because of the abundant grace of God,” she said.
Born in Angeles City, Philippines, Sister Romina is one of three children to Romulo and Teodora Sapinoso. She received her bachelor’s and her first master’s degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, the Jesuit university in Manila. After arriving in the U.S. in 2002, she worked as an elementary teacher (pre-K to fourth grade) in public and private schools in the United States for over a decade. She met the Sisters of Charity in 2007 and started living in community with them in 2009. In 2015, she completed a master’s degree in International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco in California.
Sister Romina began her year of Affiliation with the Sisters of Charity in September 2015 while continuing to minister as an educator and volunteering at Proyecto Santo Niño in Anapra, Mexico. In August 2016, Sister Romina became a Canonical Novice. During her Novitiate, she taught English as a Second Language to refugees through Catholic Charities in Cincinnati; she also volunteered at the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center in Cincinnati. At the conclusion of her Apostolic Novitiate in 2018, Sister Romina served as a social-emotional learning teacher for the International Rescue Committee’s Newcomer Youth Summer Academy in New York, New York, which she continued every summer until 2021. She made first vows in September 2018.
After first vows, Sister Romina completed a three-month internship with the Sisters of Charity Federation NGO at the United Nations. Shortly after, she returned to the border to continue ministering as an educator on both sides of the border. She taught adult professionals at the Ysleta Community Learning Center in El Paso, Texas, and is currently setting up the Montessori pre-school at Proyecto Santo Niño in Anapra, Mexico. Between these two ministries, she also volunteered at Annunciation House shelters in El Paso, welcoming and assisting immigrants passing through and helped facilitate retreats for different church groups.