PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

John P. Martin, Inquirer Staff Writer
POSTED: Friday, August 16, 2013

When her cellphone rang in May 2009, Sister Celeste Ortiz thought God had answered her prayers. On the line was Samuel Alvarado, who said he was a priest in New Jersey with wonderful news.

A parishioner had bequeathed $1 million to Ortiz’s order, the Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima. A fee was needed to process the inheritance, Alvarado said, but it would be reimbursed.

He would personally deliver the papers. Then 67, Ortiz was the superior for her order, which is based in Puerto Rico and has 130 nuns working in impoverished spots worldwide, including, at the time, Philadelphia.

The call came as she was struggling to find funds for a mission in Haiti and to pay for an international gathering the order was holding that summer. God’s…