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August 13, 2020, Adrian, Michigan – As she formally assumes the role of President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), Adrian Dominican Sister Elise D. García, OP, spoke of her role as a “bridge” between younger and older women religious.
The LCWR is an association of elected leaders of congregations of women religious, representing about 80% of the women religious in the United States.
Sister Elise, a member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ General Council, entered the Congregation at the age of 50. She brought her childhood experiences in five countries – representing the diversity that is so much a part of religious life today – as well as a wealth of experience in communications and development in non-profit organizations; and in book publishing. When she entered, she was Co-founder and Co-director with Sister Carol Coston, OP, of Santuario Sisterfarm, a farm and ecological center in the Texas hill country.
Before her election to the General Council in 2016, Sister Elise ministered as Director of Communications for the Congregation.
The formal transfer of leadership was set during the LCWR’s Assembly, held virtually August 12-14, 2020. Sister Elise will serve a one-year term as President, part of a leadership team with Sister Jayne Helmlinger, CSJ, Past President, and Sister Jane Herb, IHM, President-Elect.
Read more about Sister Elise’s life’s journey and her leadership role in religious life and in the LCWR in a Global Sisters Report article by Soli Salgado.
November 8, 2019, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters endorses the following statement by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) on President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.
“The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) was deeply disappointed by President Trump’s 2017 pledge to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement and we are profoundly troubled by the decision to formally request US withdrawal from this critically important international agreement. Catholic teaching is clear – climate change is a grave moral issue that threatens our commitment to: protect human life and dignity, exercise a preferential option for the most vulnerable, promote the common good, and care for God’s creation. The failure of the United States to fulfill its 2015 commitment dishonors our nation and threatens our common home. We will continue to raise our voices against climate policies that harm Earth and its people and to advocate for climate justice.”
On June 1,2017, when President Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the Agreement, the Adrian Dominican Sisters General Council issued a statement declaring that decision to be “politically, economically, and morally indefensible” because it “threatens to condemn Earth, our common home, and future generations to potentially catastrophic climate change.”
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is an association of leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States. Founded in 1956, LCWR assists its members to collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today’s world.
Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters General Council are Sisters Patricia Siemen, OP, Prioress; Frances Nadolny, OP, Administrator and General Councilor; Mary Margaret Pachucki, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Patricia Harvat, OP, and Elise D. García, OP, General Councilors.