By CatholicPhilly Staff Report • Posted August 5, 2026

Most Reverend Nelson J. Pérez, D.D., Archbishop of Philadelphia, has appointed Sister Marie Mechtild Wasserthal, R.S.M., as the new Delegate for Consecrated Life in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

In her role, she represents the Archbishop to the consecrated religious sisters, brothers, and priests from 66 different religious orders serving in the Archdiocese.

A Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, Michigan, Sister Mechtild is a native of Germany with a background in administrative and pastoral work.

“It is a great joy and pleasure for me to serve as the Delegate for Consecrated Life,” she said. “I look forward to meeting with consecrated men and women and their affiliated communities in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is important that we share our successes as well as our problems and needs with each other, and to explore necessary solutions together. I am grateful for the warm welcome I have received in Philadelphia. I pray for all the consecrated religious, and I ask them to pray for me.”

After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in nursing in Germany, Sister Mechtild was a nursing instructor in Mannheim and a nursing home administrator in Düsseldorf, Germany. She studied at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome and went on to serve as a Registered Nurse at the Pontifical North American College. She also served in pastoral care for St. Francis Health Care System in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Prior to her arrival in Philadelphia, she was the Director of the Office of Consecrated Life in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. She also worked on outreach initiatives for a Rural Parish Clinic in Missouri.