CNA Staff, Jan 3, 2025 / 16:35 pm (CNA).
A religious sister who ministered in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City died in a car accident Thursday afternoon after running off a rural highway northwest of the city, according to local news reports.
Sister Veronica Higgins of the Carmelite Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Infant Jesus was killed after her vehicle left the road, struck a tree, and came to rest in a creek, authorities said.
The accident happened on Oklahoma Highway 3, about four miles south of Okarche, the hometown of Blessed Stanley Rother.
Higgins, 74, was “apparently ill,” and troopers wrote in the report that the cause of the collision was a medical incident, KOCO reported.
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City paid tribute to Higgins shortly after the accident, writing on social media: “I have just learned of the sudden and unexpected death of Sister Veronica Higgins, CST, earlier today, Jan. 2. Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Veronica, the Carmelite Sisters of St. Thérèse, and all who grieve her passing.”
“Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,” the bishop continued, adding that “funeral arrangements are pending and will be provided in the near future.”
Higgins was the case manager at the Center of Family Love, a ministry to the intellectually disabled, in Okarche, according to the Okarche Warrior. She was also a past administrator and principal at the former Villa Teresa School in Oklahoma City.
According to The Oklahoman, she was a convert to the Catholic faith and celebrated the 40th anniversary of her vows as a religious sister in 2016.
On the website for her order, Higgins wrote that her favorite Bible verse is Micah 6:8, which reads: “The Lord asks of us only this: to act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God.”
An archdiocesan spokesman told CNA that the sisters are “still struggling with the loss” and that more information will be available next week.
The Carmelite Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Infant Jesus say on their website that the members of the order work to serve “the special needs of those who experience poverty, spiritual deprivation, moral disorders, and indifference.”
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Why was a 74 year old woman who was suffering from illness allowed to go out driving? She could have killed other people!
The elderly are selfish and cannot be trusted. Because of this, society needs to enforce yearly driver license re-teats beginning when a person turns 55. As soon as a person turns 65 it should be 100% illegal for them to ever drive a car; their cognitive abilities are in decline, their vision and hearing are in decline, nothing but death and destruction comes from allowing the elderly to continue to drive and have access to cars. People who continue to drive on the roads at age 65 or older are menaces to society and their right to drive does not supercede anyone else’s right to be alive.
It’s sad you have such an “ageist attitude”–someone who’s prejudiced or has stereotypical belief about someone based solely on their age, often involving negative assumptions about their abilities, capabilities, or value due to their age, usually directed towards older individuals; it encompasses the “thinking” part of ageism, where someone holds biased opinions about people based on their age. She was an active woman who ministered to many.. you would be so lucky to have touched so positively the many she has.