Adrian Dominican Sisters elect new leadership
The Adrian Dominican Sisters elected a new prioress and four members of its General Council to lead them through the next six years.
The announcement took place Wednesday. The election happened during Session II of the Congregation’s 2016 General Chapter from Feb. 18-26 in Adrian. The leadership team will assume their new roles on July 1.
Sister Patricia Siemen, O.P., who formerly served on the General Council for the Adrian Dominican Sisters in the Diocese of Lansing, was elected Prioress of the congregation. This role is similar to a president of an organization.
“I will give all the gifts and the limitations I have to forward the Mission — of the Adrian Dominican Congregation,” Sister Patricia said in a news release.
As prioress, she will hold the highest ordinary authority in the congregation. Her responsibilities will include promoting the unity of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, officially representing the congregation in church and civic affairs and chairing the General Council.
Serving with her on the General Council will be Sisters Margaret Mary Pachucki, O.P., Vicaress/General Councilor-elect; Frances Nadolny, O.P., Administrator/General Councilor-elect; and Patricia Harvat, O.P. and Elise D. García, O.P., General Councilors-elect.
Sister Siemen has served in leadership in the Adrian Dominican Congregation numerous times. She was the Chapter Prioress Major Superior of the Sisters in the congregation’s Mid-Atlantic Mission Chapter from 1988 to 1992, when she was elected to serve on the congregation’s General Council as Vicaress/General Councilor until 1998.
She is also the founding director of the Earth Center for Jurisprudence at the Barry University School of Law in Orlando, Fla. The center seeks to develop a philosophy and practice of law that respects and protects the natural world in its own right.
Sister Nadolny is the director of the congregation’s Ministry Trust Office, which oversees the awarding of grants to organizations in which Adrian Dominican Sisters minister or volunteer. She served for six years as Chapter Prioress Major Superior for the Sisters in the Detroit-based Great Lakes Dominican Mission Chapter.
Sister Pachucki is currently the president of Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, Ill. She has also served as the national coordinator for literacy and numeracy in South Africa.
Sister García is the director of communications for the Adrian Dominican Sisters. She also co-founded and co-directed Santuario Sisterfarm, which is a ecology center in Texas dedicated to cultivating biodiversity and cultural diversity.
Sister Harvat is currently the vice president of Dominican Catholic Identity at St. Mary’s Dominican High School in New Orleans. She has also served as director of Lay Ministry Formation for the Hispanic Ministry Office of the Diocese of Cleveland.
They succeed Sister Attracta Kelly, O.P., Prioress of the Congregation; Sister Corinne Sanders, O.P., Administrator and General Councilor; Sister Tarianne DeYonker, O.P., Vicaress and General Councilor; and Sisters Rosemary Abramovich, O.P., and Kathleen Schanz, O.P., General Councilors.
The Dominican Sisters of Adrian are a congregation of about 700 vowed religious women whose roots go back to St. Dominic in the 13th century. They minister in 26 states; the District of Columbia; and in five other nations, including Canada, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
