February 4, 2025 // Diocese
Religious Sisters ‘a Blessing’ to St. Therese School
As someone who had earned his master’s degree in mechanical engineering before entering the priesthood, Father Glenn Kohrman knows all too well that some problems are more easily solved than others. And last spring, the pastor of St. Therese Catholic Church was in a real pickle.
The parish school at St. Therese in Fort Wayne had a couple of openings for teachers, and filling them was proving to be nearly impossible. Father Kohrman had seemingly pursued all avenues and turned over all the proverbial rocks he could think of in his search to fill out the school’s teaching staff.

Three members of the Catechist Sisters of St. Ann – from left, Sister Ramya Teja Bandanadam, Sister Sangeetha Udumala, and Sister Roja Rani Kondala – pose for a photo at St. Therese Catholic School in Fort Wayne. The three sisters, who are their order’s first missionaries to the United States, are serving as teachers at St. Therese. – Photos provided by St. Therese Catholic School
“I was so desperate to get teachers that I was actually set up to contract with a virtual math teacher,” Father Kohrman told Today’s Catholic. “We were going to have to go with them – with somebody outside of the building – because we couldn’t find anybody to fill the position.”
And then, out of the blue, came an answer to his prayers. Three of them, actually.
While Father Kohrman was struggling to fill his teaching openings at St. Therese, a Catholic school three hours to the northwest was faring even worse. Last January, the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, announced that St. Matthew Catholic School in Glendale Heights, Illinois, would close permanently at the end of the 2023-24 academic year.
Last June, Father Kohrman received a text from a friend of his from Joliet, Father Michael Pennock, who was in an Exodus 90 group with Father Kohrman.

Sister Sangeetha Udumala teaches middle-school science at St. Therese Catholic School. Hailing from India, Sister Sangeetha holds a master’s degree in physics.
“He texted and just said, ‘Hey does anybody know someone that could use three nuns?’”
Three sisters from India – the first missionaries to the
United States from the Catechist Sisters of St. Ann – had been teaching at St. Matthew and living at Father Pennock’s parish. With the closing of the school, Father Pennock was helping them find a new school where they could live and serve.
Father Kohrman responded immediately, and he soon learned that the three Catechist Sisters of St. Ann were well qualified to teach at St. Therese: Sister Roja Rani Kondala has a master’s degree in language arts; Sister Sangeetha Udumala has a master’s degree in physics; and Sister Ramya Teja Bandanadam has a bachelor’s degree in education.
Father Kohrman, however, wasn’t the only priest interested. A parish in Wisconsin was also vying for their services, as were a couple of others as well.
“I thought they would be a great fit here,” Father Kohrman said, “but they had a couple of different offers, and it seemed that they were leaning toward somewhere else, and I didn’t think we were going to get the opportunity to get them here.”
But Father Kohrman wasn’t giving up easily.
“I told them: Before you make your final decision, let’s have a Zoom interview. So, I walked around with my phone and did a Zoom call and a virtual tour.”
Father Kohrman’s persistency – and his apparent power of persuasion – paid off.
“After we talked and had the interview, they thought this seemed like a better fit, and so we were fortunate that it all worked out.”
Based in the Archdiocese of Hyderabad in central India, the Catechist Sisters of St. Ann boasts more than 500 members whose charism is to “spread the light of Christ” – mainly through education. While the majority of the order’s sisters are located in India, they have missionaries serving in Africa and Europe. In 2023, leaders decided to expand the sisters’ reach, and Sister Roja, Sister Ramya, and Sister Sangeetha were asked to become the order’s first missionaries to the United States after being invited by the Diocese of Joliet to teach at St. Matthew School in Glendale Heights.
Despite some personal apprehension about traveling to the other side of the world – to a country they didn’t know with a culture they didn’t understand – each of the three sisters said they were eager to follow God’s call to evangelize.
“I was very happy to come here because our founder’s motto is that the word of God should be spread all over the world,” Sister Roja said. “So, I took this opportunity to be a missionary, and I feel that I have accepted the will of God to work in the United States.”
Sister Ramya told Today’s Catholic that the thing that surprised her most about the American culture was the people’s devotion to practicing their faith.
“I was most happy that this is a Christian country,” Sister Ramya said. “In India, mostly the Hindu religion is practiced, but coming to America, I was happy that everyone was very committed to their work and their faith – especially our Catholic faith. That was most surprising to me.”
All three sisters told Today’s Catholic that while it was difficult to learn that their school in the Diocese of Joliet had to close, coming to St. Therese has been a blessing.
“Simply giving my presence as a witness to the people, and I am happy to share the ministry on behalf of my congregation,” said Sister Ramya, who is a teacher’s aide in the school’s fifth-grade classroom. “I am always ready to embrace any opportunity that is given by Father Glenn or the school, and I am ready to do or help whatever they need.”
Sister Sangeetha, who teaches middle school science, said one of her priorities is helping the students at St. Therese realize the importance of prayer and teaching them to develop a sense of piety – something that can be a challenge for all Catholic middle school teachers.
“Sometimes they are not as quiet during prayer time as I’d like,” Sister Sangeetha said. “So, I have to raise their awareness that prayer is most important, because when we are praying, the presence of God is with us. … But we can see the students changing their behavior and the way they stand in the church and pray. … It’s wonderful to see them improving.”
While adjusting to a new school in a new community, each of the sisters said it has been helpful to have the others to lean on as they walk this journey together.
“In our community, we are sharing our joys and our challenges as a family,” said Sister Roja, who teaches middle school literature and religion. “Though we are coming from different places and different cultures and different communities, different family backgrounds, in the community here, we are living as one family. We are very freely sharing our joys, and we are sharing our problems with each other, but also taking each other’s guidance, and as a family, we are able to face everything with happiness.”
Sister Ramya said one of the most enjoyable aspects of coming to Fort Wayne has been how warmly she and her sisters have been embraced by the St. Therese community.
“They have treated us as their family members,” Sister Ramya said. “That’s very surprising to me, because once we’ve met new people, they remember us, or whenever they have a gathering as a family, they invite us. The people of St. Therese seem so grateful that we are here; they are so thankful. And we are thankful, too.”
As is Father Kohrman, who said he sees the sisters’ arrival to the St. Therese community as pure “serendipity.”
“It’s been a blessing,” he said – “an absolute blessing to have them here.”
Scott Warden is editor-in-chief of Today’s Catholic.
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