Fellin Lecture Returns to the Fall with Focus on Wartime Ukraine
Sister Lynn McKenzie, OSB
The annual Mary L. Fellin Lecture is returning to its usual fall timeframe, coming to Benedictine College with a special presentation on Sunday, October 4, at 7:00 p.m. in O’Malley-McAllister Auditorium on the Atchison, Kansas, campus. The Fellin Endowment Fund sponsors the lecture series, presented each year by the Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery to support the liberal arts orientation of Benedictine College. This fall, Sister Lynn McKenzie, OSB, will present on “A Visitor’s Perspective on Wartime Ukraine.” The lecture is free and open to the public.
Sister Lynn is a Benedictine Sister of Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman, Alabama, where she has lived since 1981. She practiced law in Cullman from 1986 to 2012. She has also served as a mediator in various types of civil cases and as ombudsman for the State of Alabama Department of Labor. She holds both civil law and canon law doctorates. Besides canon law consulting, she was Defender of the Bond for the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama from 1994-2015.
From 2014 -2026, Sister Lynn served as President of the Benedictine Sisters of the Monastic Congregation of Saint Scholastica, a role in which she served 17 monasteries of Benedictine Sisters across the United States as well as in Mexico. In 2018, she was elected as Moderator of Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum, the leader of worldwide Benedictine women. She currently continues to serve as Moderator of CIB and she has traveled extensively internationally in this role, including visits to the sisters in Ukraine.
The Fellin Lecture series is from a female perspective and past lectures have included:
- “Benedictines: The World in a Single Ray of Light” by Sister Judith Sutera, OSB
- “Holy Conversation: Is that the Crux of Benedictine Education?” by Sister Susan Quaintance, OSB, subprioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
- “Common Ground, Uncommon Excellence” by Dr. Carolyn Woo, president & CEO of Catholic Relief Services
- “Soul Food: Kansas Nuns Teach Journalist to Sit Still, Be Quiet, and Find Home” by Judith Valente
- “Benedict, Francis and Thomas: Contributions to Environmental Ethics from a Catholic, Christian Perspective” by Jame Schaefer
- “Dialogue of Hope: The Future of Catholic Relations with Muslims” by Sandra Keating
- “Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible” by S. Mary Irene Nowell, OSB.
Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas. The school is honored to have received a top 10 ranking by U.S. News & World Report, to be ranked in the nation’s 10 most-recommended colleges by The Wall Street Journal, and named one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by the Newman Guide. It prides itself on outstanding academics, extraordinary faith life, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging. Benedictine College is dedicated to Transforming Culture in America through its mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.
