Central Los Angeles : Activist Nun Transferred
During her 26 years in City of Commerce, Sister Valencia Foltz did more than teach children Catholic principles in catechism classes. Foltz, 75, believed that she had to practice those teachings through her actions.
She counseled teen-agers on avoiding drug abuse and pregnancy, fed homeless men and women and, most recently, rallied residents against a proposed solid waste handling facility.
Foltz’s work has won the hearts of many residents of the mostly Latino city just south of the Eastside. But those close to Foltz say the nun’s political activity might have upset her superiors and prompted her transfer this month to a Nebraska farming town.
Foltz’s religious superiors at Our Lady Victory Missionary Sisters say the transfer is routine and had nothing to do with her activism.
“The people of Commerce are like family to me,” Foltz said. “But as a missionary, I have to move on.”
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