Agnes Mary Mansour

Agnes Mary Mansour (April 10, 1931 – December 17, 2004) was an American former Catholic nun, as well as a politician and public official.

Josephine A. Mansour was born in Detroit, Michigan to Lebanese immigrants on April 10, 1931, the fourth of four children in her family, all girls.

She was baptized in the Maronite branch of Eastern Catholicism.

After finishing St. Charles High School in Detroit's East Side, she graduated from Mercy College in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree in medical technology and chemistry.

She entered the Sisters of Mercy, assuming the name Sister Agnes Mary on September 7, 1953, transferring to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.

She continued her education at Catholic University in Washington D.C., earning a Master of Science degree in chemistry in 1958.

On August 16, 1959, she took perpetual vows to become a nun.

The name "Agnes" ("lamb" in Latin) and a pious motto were thrust upon her by her superiors: "Sweet heart of Jesus, be my love."

She entered Georgetown University and earned a doctorate in biochemistry in 1964.

Regarding a harmful side effect of the use of chloroquine in the treatment of malaria, dangerous to the eyes, she co-authored The Ocular Deposition of Chloroquine, with Howard Bernstein, Nathan Zvaifler and Martin Rubin.

After receiving her doctorate, Mansour returned to Chicago and accepted the chairmanship of the Mercy College Department of Physical Science and Mathematics.

She also coached the basketball team.

Mansour studied academic administration in the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows program at the University of Kentucky.

She served as the president of Mercy College of Detroit from 1971 to 1983.

In 1971, she began serving as president of Mercy College of Detroit, staying in the position until 1983.

As president, she greatly expanded enrollment and facilities at Mercy College, doubling the number of degree programs while balancing the budget with increased endowments.

She bridled under the motto, which she wore on a ring, finally removing the ring in 1979 and choosing her own motto: "Free to be Faithful".

She ran unsuccessfully for public office in 1982, in the process provoking comment from the Archbishop of Detroit.

In 1982, Mansour ran in a primary election for United States House of Representatives representing Michigan's 17th congressional district, held on August 3.

She said of her campaign, "I look at politics as a legitimate extension of my work as a Sister of Mercy."

In a field of four Democratic Party candidates, Sander M. Levin won with more than seven times the votes received by Mansour, who picked up only 6.4% of the electorate.

Mansour's run for office came as a surprise to Edmund Szoka, the Archbishop of Detroit.

At the time, the Vatican allowed members of religious orders to hold political office, but the candidate was required to gain the approval of the local bishop.

Mansour did not do so.

She told reporters that canon law was an "old set of rules that are invoked when somebody wants to invoke them, and ignored when someone wants to ignore them."

Szoka accepted her excuse that she did not know to ask permission.

After the general election in November 1982, the incoming Michigan governor, James Blanchard, appointed Mansour in December to the directorship of the Michigan Department of Social Services (DSS); Michigan's biggest agency.

The administrative position involved oversight of public health programs including disbursement of some $5 million in federal monies from Medicaid for abortions.

To accept the appointment, she asked for and received permission from her order and from Szoka.

Szoka asked Mansour to publicly state her opposition to abortion; he said he originally gave his approval on this condition.

Mansour did not follow his request.

She is known for having been given a choice from the Vatican in 1983 to end her religious vows or to resign from her position as the director of the Michigan Department of Social Services, which required her to support and allocate public funding for abortions.

The controversy involved her belief that abortion was tragic but should be legal, despite her vows as a religious and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

After graduating from college in Detroit, Mansour entered religious life with the Sisters of Mercy and earned a doctorate in biochemistry.

The governor of Michigan appointed her to lead the state's social services department, and she was confirmed in early 1983.

During this time, the Archbishop of Detroit and Vatican officials asked Mansour declare herself against abortion—as her department was responsible for abortion services funded through Medicaid.

Mansour refused to make such a statement, and two months after her confirmation as director, she was required by the Vatican to decide whether she was to continue as director or as a nun.

She chose to give up her vows as a nun.

After 1987, she served as visiting professor to Michigan State University and Wayne State University.

After serving out her appointment, she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1988.