News | Live Stream | Video Library
Contact Us | Employment | Donate
July 11, 2025, Areguá, Paraguay – Adrian Dominican Sister Xiomara Méndez-Hernández, OP, joined other Dominican Sisters marking fewer than 25 years of profession in a special Encuentro of the Confederation of Dominican Sisters from Latin America and the Caribbean (CODALC – Spanish acronym), held June 19-22, 2025, in Areguá, Paraguay.
Sister Xiomara is the Executive Director of the Dominican Sisters Conference (DSC), a collaborative organization of many of the U.S.-based Dominican Congregations. She described CODALC as the Latin American and Caribbean version of the DSC. Both of these organizations belong to the Dominican Sisters International Confederation (DSIC), as do organizations of Dominican Sisters in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.
CODALC celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, and some Adrian Dominican Sisters were part of the organization in its early years. “We have a presence in CODALC,” she said. The Adrian Dominican Sisters from the Dominican Republic and Sisters from North America who have served in the Dominican Republic and several other countries in Latin America were involved in CODALC from its early days, she said.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Sister Xiomara was invited to the CODALC gathering and had the opportunity to see “how alive is the Dominican Charism in Latin America. Those women are so committed, and they have so much joy and are so busy.”
The more than 40 participants in the Encuentro spent their days in conversations of hope in Spanish and Portuguese, Sister Xiomara said. With the many differences among the participants, inclusivity was an important aspect of the Encuentro. “We made sure that no one was left out and that everyone had a voice at the table,” especially during small-group discussions, she explained. “We focused on Dominican joy and what it means to be a preacher and to have a voice. We tried to dive deep.”
Sister Xiomara gave two presentations: “Prophetic Women from the Dominican Spirituality Perspective” and “Dominican Women Dreaming and Preaching with Hope.” During one presentation, she spoke about her experience at a gathering of DSIC Sisters under the age of 65 in Caleruega, Spain, in 2024, when the Sisters from each continent developed a manifesto, their plan of action for their region. The Sisters presented their manifestos during a follow-up gathering in Rome in May 2025 with elected congregational leaders.
Participants in the CODALC Encuentro focused on their own action plan to implement the manifesto. “It was very well conceived, and they came up with their own ideas on how to live out the manifesto,” Sister Xiomara said.
Sister Xiomara also experienced the work of Dominicans in Paraguay in a sightseeing tour of the ministries of the Dominican men in Barrio “El Bañado” (the Bathed Neighborhood) in the capital Asunción. The tour included a neighborhood near the bank of the Paraguay River whose homes are destroyed by flooding from heavy rainfall – which happens consistently and unpredictably every 1-5 years. She learned of a project to build a wall to protect 1,500 of the 2,500 homes affected by the flooding. “It was so moving: the faithful accompaniment of our brothers for more than 40 years,” she said. “They live in the neighborhood with the others.”
The Dominican men – Friars and Brothers – in El Bañado are generous in many ways, not only in their dedicated ministry, Sister Xiomara said. They have a foundation and “are in the process of raising awareness through raising funds” promoting the dignity of the marginalized people who live in their neighborhood. They were also generous in their hospitality to the Sisters, providing a snack of flatbread and special tea for the sightseers, she said.
Sister Xiomara was pleased with the “blessing of reconnecting with these women with whom I had so much history.” During the 2024 celebration in Caleruega, she said, she “learned so much about our deep connections with CODALC and the DSC, and how many Sisters of our own congregations were an integral part of it.”
Caption for above feature photo: Participants in the June 2025 Encuentro sponsored by the Dominican Conference of Sisters pause for a group photo.
February 5, 2025, Bangalore, Karnataka, India – Adrian Dominican Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, spoke recently to Dominican Justice Promoters from the Asia-Pacific Region about the importance of partnering with the United Nations. She was invited to speak at the 12th Conference on Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation for the Dominicans’ Asian-Pacific Region, held January 11-15, 2025, at the Montfort Spirituality Center in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Sister Durstyne spoke as the Dominicans’ United Nations NGO, as well as the International Dominican Sisters Justice Promoter. She was invited to speak at the conference by Sister Ameline Intia, OP, a Justice Promoter from the Philippines who attended the United Nations’ 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), held at the UN March 11-22, 2024. Sister Durstyne hosted 10 Dominicans at the event.
Sister Durstyne said she spoke to the Dominican Justice Promoters about the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), in which participating nations set goals in 17 areas as a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and planet, according to the UN website. The inter-related goals cover areas such as hunger, poverty, education, peace, and sustainability.
Sister Durstyne explained that each nation works on the SDGs separately, setting their own target goals and objectives that must be met to achieve the SDGs. Only 17 percent of the work has been complete, with a target date of 2030. This summer, the UN will host a High Level Political Forum in which representatives of each country gives a review of their status on five of the 17 SDGs.
Sister Durstyne also spoke to the justice promoters in general about her role as the Dominican UN representative in New York. “This [was] the first time anyone is addressing them about this,” she said. “It was a fabulous opportunity to address them about how we can partner with each other.”
During the conference, the justice promoters also crafted their mission statement and goals for their work in the Asia-Pacific Region for the next three years. Goals included organizing, mobilizing, and strengthening their capacity in justice, peace, and integrity of creation; developing and maintaining common programs in the areas of migration, climate emergency, misinformation, and all forms of violence; partnering with stakeholders; and networking with the Dominican representatives at the UN.
In plenary sessions, justice promoters from each country gave reports on the status of work in their country and listened to talks. The conference also included time for prayer, liturgy, the rosary, meals, and breaks. For Sister Durstyne, one of the highlights was a series of dances performed by the novices of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation – the largest Dominican congregation in the world.
“People need to know the Dominicans for Justice and Peace are very active in their countries,” Sister Durstyne said. “They’re really working with the marginalized in their countries.” She gave the example of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, whose ministries include a pre-K school for 190 children in the slums. “What they are doing is amazing,” she said.
She also spoke of Father Praveen Monteiro, OP, of India, whose parish organizes about 56 programs, from awareness for the National Day of the Girl Child, International Women’s Day, and human trafficking to summer camps for the children and a program in which women learn to be tailors.
In Gujarat, in northern India, the Dominican Sisters of the Rosary are helping the women to reclaim some of their traditional embroidery skills to generate some income, she added.
A sightseeing day during the conference gave Sister Durstyne the opportunity to visit another part of India and to interact with the people. “We went to see palaces and dancing waters in the fountains,” she recalled, but they also experienced the hospitality of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation. “They gave us each a wreath of chrysanthemums,” she recalled.
But the Sisters didn’t need to travel far in India to experience the hospitality. Sister Durstyne recalled receiving another wreath of flowers during a meeting in Bangalore, as well as an invitation to join a local family’s celebration of their baby’s baptism. “It was a full moon night,” she said. “People were dancing and [we had] lots of food and sodas … The hospitality of the people is just so striking.”
Looking back on her time in India, Sister Durstyne said, “It was a wonderful experience. We had a great opportunity to talk about the Dominican NGO and why it’s so important for us Dominicans to be part of it.”
Caption for above feature photo: Novices of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, from India, performed a series of dances during a recent meeting of Dominican Justice and Peace Promoters of the Asian-Pacific Region.