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December 20, 2022

Dominican Sisters Conference Names New Executive Director

December 6, 2022 — The Executive Committee of the Dominican Sisters Conference (DSC) is pleased to announce its selection of Xiomara Mendez Hernandez, OP, as it’s new Executive Director. She will take the place of Mary Ellen O’Grady, OP (Sinsinawa) who completes just under 3 years of excellent service to the DSC.

A Dominican Sister of Adrian for 14 years, Xiomara has extensive experience with the first core team of the 55 and under cohort Dominican Women Afire! And she served two years as board President of Giving Voice, a peer led organization that creates spaces for younger women religious to give voice to their hopes, dreams and challenges in religious life.

“I am delighted that the DSC will be led by such a passionate and committed Dominican woman as Xiomara, who brings a younger new perspective to our conference ,” said Anne Lythgoe, OP (Peace), President of the DSC. “Xiomara possesses a deeply reflective spirit, intelligence and most importantly, the collaborative style of relating that draws out the best in others. I sense we are about to move into a transformative time in the history of the DSC.”

Xiomara currently serves as the Interim Manager of the Spiritual Care Department of Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale FL. She has held similar chaplaincy positions since 2015. She has participated in the Collaborative Leadership Development Program and the Gamaliel National Leadership program on community organizing, among other similar programs. She holds a masters degree from CTU in pastoral studies.

Xiomara comes to the role of Executive Director with cultural and international sensitivity, and a faith in the transformational power of inclusion and diversity. We welcome Xiomara to this position and we hold her in our prayers for success at this very exciting time for the Dominican Sisters Conference.

October 26, 2022

Dominican Sisters Conference Elected Leaders’ Meeting

Milwaukee October 14, 2022—— Meeting in-person for the first time in several years, the elected leaders of the Dominican Sisters Conference (DSC) gathered here with a number of associates and partners in mission. The DSC includes 19 member congregations around the US, about 80 people attended the October 12-14 meeting.

The Racine Dominicans welcomed everyone to the meeting by hosting the opening prayer at their motherhouse along with a cookout with the flavors of Wisconsin: brats, beans, potato salad, and beer. Not to mention spectacular views of Lake Michigan.”

The meeting’s theme: “Truth” was a connecting thread for all the presentations, reports, and conversation throughout the days as a response to the social and political polarization we experience.

Sr. Anne Lythgoe, OP (Peace) President of the DSC, opened the annual meeting by suggesting that the organization of the DSC is not really a “container” as we have described it in the past. Rather, she offered a more enriching and imaginative way to think of DSC as a kind of ecosystem, with intersecting root systems.

“We are a complex, organic, ever changing, rising and falling, expanding and contracting collection of organizations in diverse relationships –with shared roots, exchanges of energies, interests, shared passions and frailties,” Anne said. “A dense and beautiful forest.”

A major focus of the meeting was a presentation given by the Futuring Leadership Team (FLT) which represents the under 70 cohort of Dominican sisters in the United States. The team reported on preparatory work for a 2023 in-person meeting of sisters under 70 to be held at Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, Ohio. The FLT has been developing affinity groups among the cohort on such topics as care for creation, immigration, science and theology, unlearning racism, founding charism, and

welcoming new members. They have also created an online platform called Dominican Explorations for shared reflection and information along with tools to draw together younger Dominicans. They also developed a cohort database which will help support building relationships with one another.

Another dimension of the conversation about the future of Dominican Life and Mission emerged when the Executive Committee’s Roadmap document was presented. This led to an energetic and thoughtful discussion among the members that shifted the focus of the Executive Committee’s work toward creating a full-time position for a person who will give the leadership needed to animate the futuring process. This leader will work with the FLT to actualize its vision. The members felt a great urgency around the challenges we face in preserving our charism and planning for the future. The group hopes that together with the under 70 cohort, we might uncover new, and yet, unidentified ways to enliven our Dominican life.

The need to identify a dynamic FLT leader, brought into sharper focus the current search process underway for a new DSC Executive Director. Members of the conference were urged to identify candidates for this position and encourage qualified candidates to discern this position as a possible call to service. Presently, Mary Ellen O’Grady, OP (Sinsinawa) serves in this role.

Reg McKillip, OP (Sinsinawa) updated the conference members on the work being done by the North American Justice Promoters within the Gospel Call to Action document. Reg serves as the North American Co-Promoter with Brendan Curran, OP (St Albert the Great Province). The justice promoters are exploring future ways to collaborate more closely on critical issues: climate justice, peace and security for all life, migration and immigration, human trafficking, and economic justice.

The meeting also featured input from Dusty Farnan, OP (Adrian), United Nations NGO Representative of the DSC and International Justice Co-Promoter. Dusty described a wide range of UN projects including a virtual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Students from Dominican Academy, NYC, and Mount St. Dominic Academy in Caldwell, NJ participated in the UN International Day of the Girl and Dusty will participate in the COP 27 UN conference on Climate Change in Sinai, Egypt. The members prayed the Dominican blessing with Dusty in support of her work and for a safe journey,

Margaret Mayce, OP (Amityville) the International Coordinator of Dominican Sisters International Confederation (DSIC) presented a report on the ways Dominican sisters around the world are responding to the war in Ukraine with direct support to refugees by providing housing and basic needs. She also described the work being done to solidify the DSIC’s standing as a civil and canonical organization in Rome, Italy, where the offices are located.

The North American DSIC Continental Coordinator, Gene Poore (Peace) followed Margaret’s presentation with an overview of the range of DSIC congregations around the world. She also shared the goals of the Coordinating Committee.

The Associates and Sisters Committee also made a presentation and invited table discussion about the diverse ways associates and sisters of different congregations are getting together for ongoing formation, and the value of it. The presentation also highlighted programs, retreats and other opportunities via Zoom available to all and the interest to develop suggested topics from the survey that was shared earlier in the year.

In between reports, discussions, and processes, the members prayed together, enjoyed sharing meals and memories with old and new friends.

There were complex changes to the Executive Committee this year. Two members: Corinne Sanders, OP (Adrian) and Janice Brown, OP (Adrian) are leaving to begin terms on their congregation’s Leadership Team. Maryann McMahon, OP (Racine) is completing her time on the committee. Terry Rickard, OP (Blauvelt) begins a second term. These sisters have served with generosity, dedication, creative problem-solving and good humor. The whole assembly broke into applause to express. their affection and gratitude.

We welcome new committee members: Pat Stringer, OP (Caldwell), Veronica Esparza Ramirez, OP (Mission San Jose), Lisa Kane, OP (Racine), who will join current members, Terry Rickard, OP (Blauvelt), Anne Lythgoe, OP (Peace), and Pam Mitchell, OP (Sinsinawa).

Finally, the members turned their attention to the extraordinary service of Mary Ellen O’Grady, OP (Sinsinawa), who is the Executive Director of DSC. On behalf of the group, Anne Lythgoe, OP (Peace) called Mary Ellen to the stage and said, “who ever the new Executive Director is, they cannot possibly replace you. They will be in your shoes but can’t really fill your shoes. We could not leave here without acknowledging all the ways you have nurtured and cultivated this forest: your generosity, your ability to think of possibilities, your agility when faced with challenges, your good humor and resourcefulness. We love you, and we are so grateful for your service.

On behalf of all of us. Thank you.”

The 2022 DSC Leaders Meeting will take place in Columbus, OH, October 11-13, 2023.

August 30, 2022

Sister Siobhan Makes First Profession

Sister Siobhan Burroughs (left) makes her first profession of vows to Prioress Toni Harris, OP (right), and her successors at a Mass Aug. 7 at the Dominican motherhouse, Sinsinawa, Wis. Sister Priscilla Torres, OP, holds the microphone.

Sister Siobhan Burroughs, OP, made her first profession of vows with the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa at the Dominican motherhouse, Sinsinawa, Aug. 7, 2022. Sister Siobhan has been practicing obedience to God through prayer and action since she was a child in Trinidad and Tobago. “In my family, you didn’t have a choice. You had to go to church,” she recalled. She now understands those early practices her parents set have helped shape and form her personal relationship with God. “When I’m reflecting how God had been leading me as a child, each part of my journey has been purposeful, even though I didn’t recognize it. Every experience has prepared me to say yes to God in a more full and authentic way.”

A string of incidents in her life have led her to this conviction: obedience brings blessings. As a young adult, she struggled with her relationship with the Church and God. Siobhan had felt God’s presence strongly as a child, but that feeling lessened over time. Her search and prayer life led her to a parish where she was invited into the choir and prayer groups, which led her to a deeper understanding. Sister Siobhan said, “I learned that even though I couldn’t tangibly feel God, that God was still there. I had to trust.”

While managing a successful career as a clinical psychologist, she became active in her parish, expanding her ministries to choir; dance (“everything has rhythm in Trinidad”); children, youth, and young adult ministries; and outreach ministry where they go from home to home sharing the Gospel and praying. One day while in prayer, Sister Siobhan asked God about where she was to be directing her life, admittedly desiring the vocation of marriage. She said, “I always prayed, not my will but your will.” She was led to participate in a religious life discernment retreat and, as she states it, “I told God, ‘At the end of the retreat, you will tell me what my vocation is.’ God told me my vocation is not important right now. ‘All that matters is your relationship with me.’” After absorbing the message, she recognized that being in full relationship with God was going to lead her to be who she was truly called to be. “Thanks be to God for that guidance.”

In 2016 during adoration, Siobhan heard God say, “Go to World Youth Day.” Although there were significant challenges to get there, she made the trip to Poland. She saw Catholic sisters from all over the world and was mesmerized by them. “In a moment of euphoria, I told God yes in my heart,” Sister Siobhan shared. She committed to discern all the different congregations of sisters. “I think God had been calling for a while. I wasn’t in a place to accept.” God later told her to “preach and teach,” but she didn’t know what that meant.

With the encouragement of her aunt in Trinidad, Siobhan attended a vocation discernment retreat and found herself lodging in a room that had “Dominican” on the door. She asked what that was and found it to be one of the many orders of sisters who were present at the retreat. Searching them out, Siobhan learned that the mission of the Dominican Order is to “preach and teach.” It was there that she first met Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa and began to seriously discern her vocation to religious life with this congregation.

In 2017, God spoke to Sister Siobhan during her personal prayer. “I was in a position to hear and honor the request. I couldn’t live another second making the choice that was different from what God wanted,” she proclaimed. “God helped me, gave me the grace.” Sister Siobhan can now say that she made her vow of profession because it is something she desired and not just something God desired. “It was a long process of wrestling, but it has gotten me where I am.”

Sister Siobhan credits her family, parents Anthony and Gemma (Adams) Burroughs of La Horquetta, Arima; sister Roxanne; brother Shane; and grandmother Christiana Patrick for her strong faith foundation. She continues to visit her two childhood parishes, Church of the Resurrection in La Horquetta and Santa Rosa in Arima, when she is in Trinidad. “They have been incredibly supportive of my vocation,” Sister Siobhan reflected.

Since entering the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, she has ministered with a women’s drop-in center in Milwaukee and, while in Trinidad, at the Franciscan Institute for Personal and Family Development, with a COVID-care hotline, and with a gardening program. Sister Siobhan spent a year at the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in Chicago before preparing to make her first profession. She will return to Trinidad in September and make plans for her next ministry. She shared, “I want to continue to honor God with my life. I pray that I can be a blessing to everyone who I encounter.”

To view the Mass and profession, go to www.sinsinawa.org/live and tap on “on demand” and then scroll down to the Aug. 7 Mass. To make a donation in honor of Sister Siobhan, go to www.sinsinawa.org/donate. The Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa invite you to learn more about our worldwide Dominican family, the Order of Preachers. For over 800 years, Dominicans have continued to preach the Gospel in word and deed. Today, thousands of sisters, nuns, priests, brothers, associates, and laity minister in more than 100 countries around the world. Visit our website at www.sinsinawa.org.

May 9, 2022

Sister Carol Coston, OP, Founding Director, Attends 50th Anniversary Gala of NETWORK

Recipients of the inaugural Sr. Catherine Pinkerton Legacy Award – the first five Executive Directors of NETWORK – are, from left, Sisters Simone Campbell, SSS, Kathy Thornton, RSM, Nancy Sylvester, IHM, and Carol Coston, OP – along with Sister Patricia Siemen, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, and Mary Novak, current Executive Director of NETWORK. Not pictured is the late Adrian Dominican Sister Maureen Fenlon, OP, also an early Executive Director.
***Photo by Shedrick Pent, Courtesy of NETWORK***

“Justice Ablaze” was the theme as Catholic Sisters and other social justice advocates gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, D.C., on April 22 to celebrate the “50-year justice journey” of NETWORK: a Catholic social justice lobby. Among the celebrants were Sister Carol Coston, OP, Founding Executive Director of NETWORK; Sister Patricia Siemen, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation and a member of the 50^th Anniversary Host Committee; and Sister Elise García, OP, General Councilor.

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During the Gala, Sister Carol and four other Executive Directors of NETWORK were the inaugural recipients of the Sister Catherine Pinkerton Legacy Award, which recognizes “social justice advocates who have spent their lives working to change structures that cause poverty and inequality.” The other four directors were Sisters Nancy Sylvester, IHM; Kathy Thornton, RSM; Adrian Dominican Sister Maureen Fenlon, OP; Simone Campbell, SSS. Also receiving the award was the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

First Catholic Lobby in the United States Celebrates 50th Anniversary

The National Black Sisters’ Conference (NBSC) received the inaugural Distinguished Justice-Seeker Award.

“It’s hard for me to envision that [NETWORK] lasted for 50 years,” given the many challenges, Sister Carol said in an interview before the celebration. “I think part of the anniversary celebration is to honor the congregations that were involved from the very beginning,” including the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

Sister Carol was present in Washington, D.C., in December 1971 when a group of 47 Catholic Sisters from a variety of religious congregations met and decided to begin a network of Sisters to lobby for social justice. Among them were Adrian Dominican Sisters Marcella Hess, OP, Kathleen Gannon, OP, and Carol Jean McDonnell, OP. A steering committee met about a month later, and Sister Carol was chosen as the Founding Director. NETWORK officially began in April 1972.

Sister Carol Coston, OP, Founding Director of NETWORK, signs the organization’s bus used for the 2014 Nuns on the Bus campaign.
***Adrian Dominican Sisters File Photo***

Sister Carol recalled the humble beginnings of NETWORK. “After we had decided to go ahead and start NETWORK, two of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus offered us space in their house.” The first staff members received free room and board at a house near the Capitol. The office was on the second floor of a building owned by the Veterans of Foreign War.

One of the first challenges for NETWORK, Sister Carol said, was deciding which issues to focus on. “There were too many issues,” she said. The NETWORK leaders chose to lobby for legislative actions such as cutting off funds for the Vietnam War, reducing aid to countries that violated human rights, reducing the defense budget and increasing funds for social services, and raising the federal minimum wage.

NETWORK then brought Sisters together to lobby Congress for these actions. “We had the first legislative seminar in 1972,” Sister Carol recalled. “We did a crash course on what the process was and tried to get the women to know who their member of Congress was and, if possible, meet them.” She recalled putting the Sisters on buses to Capitol Hill to hold meetings with their Congressional representatives, lobbying for bills that enhanced social justice.

Sister Carol noted that legislative advocacy for justice was not a traditional ministry for Sisters. “Many times, the Sisters who came to the seminar might have been the only member of their congregation who was involved in political ministry,” she said. “It was encouraging to them to be with other Sisters” and to broaden their experience.

Sister Carol herself learned about the legislative process through her earlier ministry as a teacher whose students participated in speech and debate competitions. “This gave me a little bit of background on how Congress works,” she said. “I had the idea of how a bill becomes a law.”

In the years since, NETWORK has continued its work with Sisters to advocate for social justice. One of the most visible programs in recent years has been Nuns on the Bus, organized by Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, when she directed NETWORK. Nuns on the Bus operates during election years. Staff members of NETWORK and other Sisters travel to designated areas of the country to host town hall meetings, rallies, and presentations on designated areas of focus, such as voter engagement, politics for the common good, and tax justice.

Sister Carol said she learned much during her 10 years as Director of NETWORK. “You can do better together than by yourself,” she said. “What happened when we all came together for legislative seminars was that enthusiasm came from working together,” she said.

Her years of hard work to lobby for social justice did not go unnoticed. In January 2001, President Bill Clinton presented Sister Carol with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second highest honor for civilians, for her work in helping to create NETWORK. She was the first Catholic Sister to receive this honor.

Read more about Sister Carol and her work in building up NETWORK in this Global Sisters Report article by Dan Stockman.

April 26, 2022

Dominican Sisters of Peace Elect New Leaders, Set Direction at Third General Chapter Themed “Love Impels our Journey”

The new Leadership Team of the Dominican Sisters of Peace was elected at the Third General Chapter, held April 19-24 in Columbus, OH. Standing, left to right, Second Councilor Sr. Carol Davis, OP, Prioress Patricia Twohill, OP, and Fourth Councilor Sr. Susan Leslie, OP. Seated, from left, Third Councilor Sr. Cathy Arnold, OP, and First Councilor Sr. Anne Lythgoe, OP.

Columbus, OH – April 25, 2022 – The Dominican Sisters of Peace convened their Third General Chapter at the Hyatt Regency Hotel April 19-25. The Chapter was delayed for one year because of the COVID pandemic.

The congregation elected new leaders for the term 2022-2028. Sr. Pat Twohill, OP, was elected for a second term as Prioress. Sr. Anne Lythgoe, OP, was elected for a second term as First Councilor. Sister Carol Davis, OP, as elected as Second Councilor, Sr. Cathy Arnold, OP, as Third Councilor, and Sr. Susan Leslie, OP, as Fourth Councilor. To learn more about the new Leadership team, visit our website at oppeace.org.

Sisters Therese Leckert, OP, Gemma Doll, OP, and Gene Poore, OP, will complete their terms August 7, 2022.

A highlight of the first day of the meeting was a webcast launching a year-long celebration of the 200^th anniversary of Dominican women religious in the United States. On Easter Sunday, April 7, 1822, four women answered the call to serve God’s people in what was then the frontier community of Springfield, Kentucky. From those four women grew the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary Magdalen, eventually known as the Kentucky Dominicans. The Kentucky Dominicans was part of the union that created the Dominican Sisters of Peace in 2009.

Kerry Robinson, Global Ambassador and former executive director of the Leadership Roundtable, author of Imagining Abundance and a well-known speaker on the topics of philanthropy, development, and faith, spoke on those topics in relationship to the Chapter theme.

Kerry’s exceptional presentation, “Love Impels: Toward a New Culture of Leadership in the Church,” acknowledged the human flaws of the Church, but also the Church’s power to touch the vulnerable of the world and heal the wounded. Her affirmation of the contribution of women, and in particular women religious, to the Church was inspiring.

As part of the business of the Chapter, the members approved Direction Statements for the next six years. These commitments, corresponding to the Chapter theme of Love Impels Our Journey, will be used as a framework for the ways in which the sisters live and carry out their work.

Love impels us to foster and create cultures of inclusion by examining the reasons for and history of racism, with the goal of eradicating this sin against God’s people and engaging in restorative justice.

Love impels us to treasure and reverence the Earth by following the precepts of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si, On Care for our Common Home; acting to reduce of our carbon footprint individually and communally and acting in solidarity with others in caring for the Earth.

Love impels us to foster lives of prayer and contemplation by growing in and demonstrating the transformative power of Gospel living, promoting peace-making and reconciliation, and working with others to heal the wounded Body of Christ in our world.

Love impels us to Prophetic Preaching of the Gospel message by using the lens of Truth to discern reality, speaking Truth in our words, actions and lives, and confronting injustice.

Love impels us toward the future of Dominican Life by emerging forms of Dominican Life and Mission with our Dominican Sisters around the world, by working to sustain our own congregation and by promoting the call to Dominican life as vowed members and associates.

To read the full text of the new Direction Statements, please visit OPPeace.org.

The mission of the Dominican Sisters of Peace is to bring the Gospel to the world by being peace, building peace, and preaching peace. They number more than 350 Sisters and 700 Associates. They minister in 22 states, 29 Catholic Dioceses and in Nigeria, serving God’s people in ministerial areas including education, health care, spirituality, pastoral care, prison ministry, and care of creation.