The Dominican Sisters of Peace Send Two to Novitiate

Cathy Buchanan, Tram Bui move on in Formation

From left, Sister Pat Dual, OP, Sr. Joan Supel, OP, (seated) and Sr. Pat Twohill, right, applaud at the close of the Novitiate Ceremony for Cathy Buchanan, foreground, left, and Tram Bui, foreground, right. 

Columbus, OH – After more than a year of virtual formation ceremonies and celebrations, the Dominican Sisters of Peace were blessed and delighted to welcome Cathy Buchanan, 56, and Tram Bui, 42, as First Year Novices at an in-person ceremony on Saturday, July 10, 2021. The ceremony took place at the close of a virtual Congregational Assembly which was held July 8-10, 2021.

Coordinator of Formation Director Sr. Pat Dual welcomed Columbus, OH-area Sisters and Associates to the live ceremony, as well as the many Sisters and Associates watching via video call from around the world. Prioress Pat Twohill opened the ceremony and introduced Sr. Joan Supel, who proclaimed the Scripture for the ceremony from the book of Jeremiah.

Sr. Pat Twohill and Sr. Pat Dual conducted the ceremony at the Congregation’s Martin de Porres Center .

Cathy Buchanan entered the Congregation as a candidate on August 8, 2020, and has been living at the Dominican Sisters of Peace House of Welcome in New Haven, CT. During her candidacy, Cathy ministered at the Albertus Health and Wellness Center at Albertus Magnus College. 

Prior to joining the Congregation, Cathy Buchanan served as a Pastoral Associate  at  Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament parish in Roseland, NJ, and in the New Jersey State Department of Corrections for more than 25 years.

Cathy earned her Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Caldwell University in Caldwell, NJ. She earned a Master of Arts in Education at Seton Hall University, and later, her Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry at the Immaculate Conception Seminary & School of Theology at Seton Hall University.

Cathy Buchanan is the daughter of the late Mary & Andrew Buchanan. Her brother Peter is also deceased. She has six nieces and nephews and two great-nieces. 

Tram Bui was welcomed as a  candidate on December 7, 2020.

She was initially introduced to the Dominican Sisters of Peace through our Kentucky Sisters, where she also heard the call of God to become a healer through her career of physical therapy.

Tram holds a PhD from Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Lubbock, TX, in 2010. She served as a full-time physical therapist at a short-term stay skilled nursing facility, North Houston Transitional Care, and has continued to minister as a physical therapist while living at the Congregation’s House of Welcome in Columbus, OH. 

Tram is the daughter of Neam and Han Bui, and has four sisters, Teresa, Kay Ann, Phuong, Lelei, and four brothers, Juan, Thuy, Tran, and Tan. She also has many nieces and nephews.

“God is still calling women from all cultures and all walks of life to minister to God’s people, and our Congregation is witness to that,” says Sr. Pat Twohill, Prioress of the Dominican Sisters of Peace.

“Our congregation is blessed and deeply grateful to God for the gifted women who feel called to be in mission with the Dominican Sisters of Peace,” said Sr. Pat Dual, Director of Formation.

Sisters Cathy Buchanan and Tram Bui will move to the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in Chicago, IL, later this year. To view a video of the ceremony, please click here.