Sister Cecilia Louise Moore, 75; First Woman in Archdiocese Post

Sister Cecilia Louise Moore, the first woman to be appointed chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a job formerly held only by priests, died April 5. She was 75.

A member of the religious order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet for 58 years, Moore was diagnosed with cancer six years ago but had continued to work until recent months. She died at home at Daniel Murphy Convent in Los Angeles, according to Sister St. George, coordinator for the convent.

Moore rose to the chancellor’s position in a series of record-breaking appointments within the Catholic Church. At the age of 39, after nine years as a chemistry professor and the dean of faculty at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, her alma mater, she became the youngest president of the school in 1967. By then, colleagues and friends knew her as “Sister C.L.,” a nickname that stayed with her for life.

In 1986, she was the first woman to be named secretariat director for educational and formational services for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The job included frequent visits and consultations with school administrators.

“One of the most obvious and most simple means God uses to work his everyday miracles is the process of education,” she said of her field. For the good of the students, she said, “the educational system we devise for them must be value-oriented, humanizing and civilizing.”

She became chancellor of the archdiocese in 1997. Five years later, she resigned, along with the archdiocese’s four other top executives, after Cardinal Roger M. Mahony cut the budgets of a number of church programs and laid off about 60 employees to close a $4.3-million deficit.

The cuts affected ministries to the disabled, ethnic minorities, students and gays and lesbians, among others. As chancellor, Moore oversaw the archdiocese’s charitable foundations as well as the personnel office, which was sharply reduced by the cuts.

Many people interpreted the en masse resignations of Moore and Mahony’s other top staff as a statement about his budget cuts and/or his style of management, an interpretation that the archdiocese disputed. A longtime friend, Holy Names Sister Mary Faith Clarke, who has worked in the archdiocesan offices since 1993, said that Moore had said little about the resignation and noted that she had “stayed on to help with the transition.”

During her career, Moore was dedicated to the advancement of women, but she didn’t consider herself a feminist.

“She was a feminist by example,” St. George said Thursday. “She knew what a woman could do, and she did it.”

Born in Phoenix and one of seven children, she relocated to Los Angeles with her parents at the age of 12 and attended St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood for high school before she began her training for religious life.

After graduating from Mount St. Mary’s, she earned a doctorate in chemistry from St. Louis University in Missouri. She joined the faculty of Mount St. Mary’s in 1958 and remained a part of the college until 2003.

She went on to work as the associate superintendent of Catholic secondary schools and colleges for eight years and then took her initial position at the archdiocese office in Los Angeles.

At Moore’s death, Mount St. Mary’s President Jacqueline Powers Doud wrote in a letter to the faculty and students of the college: “A valiant woman has gone to God. May she rest in peace.”

Moore is survived by her sister, Clementine Moore Hale; eight nieces; five nephews; three grandnieces; and six grandnephews.

A Mass of Christian burial is scheduled for 11 a.m. today at the center.

Memorial donations may be made to the retirement fund of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, 11999 Chalon Road, Los Angeles, CA 90049.