[naviga:h3]Evans City woman hopes to meet pope[/naviga:h3]

EVANS CITY — Bernadette Conklin of Evans City left for Rome Sunday for a hoped-for meeting with Pope Francis.

Conklin, who was instrumental in creating the statue “Mary, Ark of The New Covenant” last year, hopes to present a replica of the statue after the pope’s regular Wednesday audience with pilgrims.

Conklin said she plans to meet with two sisters of the newly opened Mary, Ark of The Covenant monastery in Toronto, Ohio, who are traveling to Rome separately to attend the opening of the Jubilee Year of Mercy Tuesday.

Conklin said they have tickets for the pope’s audience and hope to be picked to present him with the statue.

Conklin began a ministry for women who are considering abortions, www.prebornjesus.com.

[naviga:h3]SRU faculty member receives award[/naviga:h3]

SLIPPERY ROCK — A Slippery Rock University faculty member recently received the Music Therapy Changemaker Award from the American Music Therapy Association.

Nicole Hahna, coordinator of clinical integration, where she oversees the Sue Shuttleworth Music Therapy Clinic at SRU, received the award Nov. 13 at a conference in Kansas City, Mo.

She was honored in recognition of her volunteer service and advocacy work for music therapy.

Hahna has been on the SRU faculty since 2009.