Sister Deirdre Byrne, M.D., a nationally-recognized pro-life voice, was the featured speaker for the Lancaster Region of the Order of Malta’s Defense of the Faith Series on October 8 at St. John Neumann Parish.
A retired U.S. Army colonel, Sister “Dede,” as she is known, served as an Army doctor prior to joining the Sisters of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts. Her 2024 biography by Leisa Marie Carazon, Ph.D., is aptly titled, “Sister, Soldier, Surgeon,” and details a full life pursuing and fulfilling three vocations.
She is perhaps most widely known for her nationally-televised keynote address at the 2020 Republican National Convention, where she issued a stirring speech upholding the dignity of life and decrying the sin of abortion.
Sister Dede, 69, grew up in McLean, Va., in a devout Catholic family of eight siblings and currently resides at her order’s residence in Washington, D.C., where she leads her convent’s free medical clinic as medical director, in addition to operating an abortion pill reversal ministry. Her talk at St. John Neumann Parish was titled, “Living the Catholic Life in this Pagan World.”
Speaking to a group of more than 175 people gathered in the parish worship space, Sister Dede began with a prayer and moment of silence for all those affected by recent mass shootings.
“I implore all of you to stay in a state of grace – regular Confession and partaking in daily Eucharist,” she said. “By having a pure heart, we can see more clearly the spiritual warfare and all the evil that’s out there.
“We probably don’t want to get out of bed when we see so much evil going on,” she admitted, “but a pure heart allows us to see as purely as possible what Christ sees.”
A disturbing trend Sister Dede has noticed over the years is that large and public spiritual events – such as the Eucharistic Revival and the recent canonizations of Saints Carlos Acutis and Pier Gorgio Frassati – have been followed by something truly dark and evil.
“When you do good, it makes the devil very angry,” she noted, which is why she advises frontline pro-life people who protest at abortion clinics to thoroughly prepare themselves first with spiritual practices such as Adoration, the Rosary, Mass, quiet prayer and Confession.
Sister Dede also asked her audience to be vigilant against the growing acceptance of “stealth euthanasia,” which involves the omission of beneficial, ordinary medical care to hasten death. Common examples include starvation, dehydration and oversedation. She has successfully used her credibility as a surgeon to speak publicly against the practice to medical associations.
In 2022, after her close friend Sister Philip Marie Burle, CPP.S, died from stealth euthanasia in a nursing home, Sister Dede worked with a filmmaker to bring her story to life. She encouraged her audience to educate themselves more at the website, SisterBurle.com.
The practice of “redemptive suffering” was also a focus of Sister Dede’s presentation, as she noted that those with chronic or terminal medical conditions can apply their prayers to others, such as the souls in Purgatory, to children who have left the faith, or others needing spiritual support. “We are rescuers for those who cannot or will not pray,” she explained. “We use that as a mercy mission for others. Redemptive suffering is that extra push for our Lord to know, love and serve Him.”
Sister Dede praised the use of Marian devotions in prayer, noting, “we do see Jesus as the ‘door’ to pure love, but I see our Blessed Mother as the ‘doorknob.’ We can shove the door open with all our strength to get inside, but why not just use the doorknob? It gets us in a little easier.”
The devil “is trying to snare our souls and send us all to hell,” she continued, “especially with sexual transitioning, same-sex unions, euthanasia, abortion…these are challenging times.” The ultimate strength to resist evil, she noted, comes from the Eucharist, and she praised the practice of Adoration.
“Jesus could have said, ‘I am your sacred hand or your sacred foot,’ but no, He said, ‘I am Jesus of the Most Sacred Heart.’”
Speaking as a surgeon, she remarked that “the heart is the muscle that never stops working, it never gets tired. And that’s what it is with Jesus; He never stops working for us… in fact most of the time we’re not even aware He is there at our side with us.”
In her closing remarks, Sister Dede shared that when she was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, she and other soldiers would gather for Mass or prayer whenever they could, and found over time their numbers growing each week, with many non-Catholic or not even Christian attending.
“The reason why,” she observed, “is that people are so thirsty for love, and the purest love is our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. We are the living Gospel, so don’t lose a moment bringing Christ to others, and our Blessed Mother is right there to help us.”
Earlier in the day, Sister Dede visited Lancaster Catholic High School and spoke first to 15 students in its pro-life club and then to the 475 members of its student body.
Sean Van Eman, principal, said, “She gave a talk on finding your vocation in life, listening to God’s call, and the benefits of being in a state of grace. It was great; she really spoke to our mission as we focus on our students being passionate about the faith and socially responsible as followers of Jesus Christ, and her life story fit perfectly.”
The Order of Malta was established as a lay religious order in 1113. Its members minister to the sick in hospitals, feed the poor in soup kitchens, clothe and shelter the homeless and provide assistance to the elderly, poor and working mothers. The Lancaster Region of the Order of Malta is active with various volunteer opportunities and spiritual activities; Bishop Timothy Senior will celebrate the order’s annual Sanctity of Life Mass on Tuesday evening, October 21, at 6:30 p.m. at St. John Neumann Church in Lancaster. For information, visit Order of Malta, Lancaster Hospitaller Region website.
Sister Dede’s biography is available on Amazon: “Sister, Soldier, Surgeon: The Life and Courage of Sister Deirdre Byrne, M.D.,” by Leisa Marie Carazon, Ph.D.
(Story and photos by Patrick Brennan, a freelance reporter for The Catholic Witness.)
By Patrick Brennan, The Catholic Witness
