Impressed by the kindness of her first teachers, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Sister Flynn decided to follow their example and professed vows as a School Sister of Notre Dame at the age of 20. She graduated from Mount Mary College and holds a masters degree in theology from St. Mary’s University of San Antonio.
After 15 years of classroom teaching, she began a full-time career in spirituality, becoming a national speaker, retreat and spiritual director, archdiocesan leader of Catholic Charasmatic renewal, and later, director of adult and family ministry at the large parish where she first met Regina and David Bakula. In June 2005, with Regina’s case ongoing, Sister retired from parish ministry to begin writing Rescuing Regina. She also co-founded and currently chairs the Archdiocesan Justice for Immigrants Committee.
On October 25, 2011, at the invitation of Human Rights First, Sister Flynn spoke at Georgetown Law in Washington, D.C. to set the tone for a conference on asylum reform by sharing Regina’s story (Rescuing Regina). The day-long conference, “Reaffirming Protection: Strengthening Asylum in the United States,” was sponsored by the UNHRC, Human Rights First, and Georgetown’s Human Rights Institute, in commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention. She also presented a signed copy of Rescuing Regina to the UN High Commissioner of Refugees Antonio Guterres. In the days following, she spoke to staff members of the Department of Migration and Refugee Services at the USCCB (national headquarters for the Catholic Church) and to national leaders of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC).
Sister is a well-known speaker, at ease with a variety of groups. She has addressed local teen groups as well as law students at Marquette University.