What's Happening

January 22, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – Sister Patricia Harvat, OP, received the Community Service Award on January 15, 2024, during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration in Adrian. The event took place in the Tobias Center of Adrian College.

In her nomination, Sister Kathleen Nolan, OP, noted that Sister Patricia has been an active member of the Adrian Human Rights Commission and “instrumental in creating a number of programs and events to engage the Adrian community in exploring the issues and promoting cultural diversity, equity, and inclusion.” 

Sister Patricia was involved in much of that work as a General Councilor for the Adrian Dominican Sisters from 2016 to 2022, charged with leading the committee that addressed the Congregation’s 2016 Enactment on Diversity and Relationships. In turn, a Congregational committee – Toward Communion: Ending Racism, Embracing Diversity – worked with both Sisters and Adrian Dominican Associates to help them become more aware of racism. 

“Sister Patricia’s dedication and passion … helped create a space where people, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity, can feel safe and are reverenced,” Sister Kathleen wrote.

“I am deeply grateful and truly honored and humbled to receive this award,” Sister Patricia said. “I accept it in the name of all the Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates.” After learning she would receive the award, she said, “My head was filled with the wonderful people who mentored and accompanied me these years in working with the city of Adrian and with our Sisters and Associates.”

In particular, Sister Patricia paid tribute to a small group of local people of color who met with her beginning in 2016 to help her in her work focusing on undoing racism and embracing diversity. “They became not only my mentors [and] colleagues, but became my friends,” she said. “They not only taught me a wealth of knowledge, but they touched my spirit of what it meant to be strangers no longer.”

The group included Andre’a Benard of Christ Temple Ministries International in Adrian; Jeanette Henagan, President of the Lenawee County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Idali Feliciano of the Adrian Human Relations Commission; Rudy Flores, an advocate for migrants; and Dionardo Pizana, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Specialist for the Michigan State University Extension.  

In an interview, Sister Patricia said she wasn’t sure where to begin when leading the Congregation in living out the Enactment on Diversity and Relationships. “I reached out to people of color,” she said. The group met every two to three months. “We didn’t have a structure or an agenda,” she said. “We’d get together and start talking. We got to know one another … and then discussed how to educate the people in Adrian. We started to bridge the gap between people of color and people not of color understanding one another.”

Dionardo and Sisters from Pax Christi worked closely with the committee to discuss their experiences of race. “Members of the Toward Communion group came closer to one another,” Sister Patricia recalled. “We understood one another at a depth greater than ‘how are you?’ … It was respectful. We got to be seen.” 

In turn, the Toward Communion committee worked with Sisters and Associates to help them understand people from other ethnic groups and cultures. Kevin Hofmann, Director of the the Congregation’s Office of Racial Equity and Cultural Inclusion, continues the work that Sister Patricia started with Sisters and Associates. 

Before her election to the General Council, Sister Patricia served eight years as the Director of Lay Ministry Formation for the Hispanic Ministry Office of the Diocese of Cleveland. There, she worked with people from 23 Hispanic countries with distinct cultures. The people shared and celebrated their diverse cultures during an annual Faith and Culture celebration. 

“I learned the joy of diverse populations coming together and celebrating together,” Sister Patricia recalled. “There wasn’t one culture that was better than another. The Salvadorans were as respected as the Mexicans. The Guatemalans were as respected as the Venezuelans. They all had their distinctive food and language.” 

Sister Patricia also experienced the joys and benefits of diversity in her earlier ministries in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. One fond memory is professing her final vows in Puerto Rico among all the people she worked with and another is the work she did with children and their families in the Head Start program. Sister Patricia also spent time in the Dominican Republic visiting different parts of the island to teach theology to the youth workers.

Read more coverage of the Martin Luther King Celebration in the Daily Telegram, a newspaper in Adrian, Michigan.

 

Feature photo at top: Sister Patricia Harvat, OP, accepts the 2024 Community Service Award during the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at Adrian College’s Tobias Center. Eugenia McClain, right, presented the award. Photo by Anna Marie Anzalone, used with permission.

January 10, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – This past year brought the world many crises and challenges, from the ongoing wars Ukraine and the Holy Land to numerous natural disasters around the world and preparations for and unease about the coming presidential election. This article, however, focuses on the top stories in the lives of Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, Co-workers, and the Dominican family – often as they responded to world crises. 

1.    The Congregation: 

The Adrian Dominican Sisters hosted a Founder’s Day celebration in June marking the 100th anniversary of being declared an independent Congregation. Across the ocean, the Sisters of the Our Lady of Remedies Mission Chapter in the Philippines dedicated their new Central House, replacing the Motherhouse that had served their needs for about 50 years. Sister Frances Nadolny, OP, was called forth to serve on the General Council after Sister Janice Brown, OP, resigned for health reasons. Finally, the Congregation received an award from ProMedica for its Resilient Community collaboration in Adrian.  

2.    Ministry: 

Sister Donna Markham, OP, retired as President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, the first woman in the organization’s more than 100 years to hold that position. She was also honored by the Detroit Catholic Charities agency. Sister Judy Byron, OP, was recognized for her 32 years of service with Mercy Housing Northwest.

3.    Formation/Vocations:

Sister Meliza Arquillano, OP, professed her final vows in the Philippines. Jamie Caporizo was accepted into Formation as a Candidate. Six new Associates were accepted during a special ritual.

4.    Justice and Peace: 

Adrian Dominican Sisters and friends began 2023 by joining the delegation of activists during Immigration Advocacy Day at the Michigan State Capitol, asking for passage of a bill allowing immigrants to have driver’s licenses no matter their residency status. Karla Rivas, an activist from Honduras, visited Adrian as part of a delegation of Honduran activists to visit various areas of the United States to explain the challenges facing their country. As President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, Sister Donna Markham, OP, she visited Ukraine to learn about the conditions in that war-torn nation. Sisters Judy Byron, OP, and Patricia McDonald, OP, shared their experiences as participants in an anti-human trafficking conference. Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, explained the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the need for people of all nations – especially the wealthy, developed countries – to support and work on the efforts to meet those goals. Sisters at the Motherhouse prayed a Rosary for Peace shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel.

5.    Sponsored/Legacy Institutions:

Sister Beth Butler, OP, was named an Honorary Alum of Siena Heights University for her influence on criminal justice students she taught. Also during Homecoming weekend, Siena Heights University dedicated the Sister Peg Albert Social Work Simulation and Practice Lab after Sister Peg retired in June 2023 after 17 years as President of the university. Barry University received grants to establish an Agriculture and Food Training Scholarship Program and to train nursing students, encouraging them to enter a demanding and much-needed field. Also in the healthcare field, St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada, broke ground for its fifth neighborhood hospital and paid tribute to the Sisters who founded the hospital. Aquinas Literacy Center in Chicago received a sizable grant from the State of Illinois to enhance its work in adult literacy. Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, Illinois, held the transfer of sponsorship ceremonies from the Adrian Dominican Sisters to the collaborative Dominican Veritas Ministries, a new pontifical juridic person (PJP) for the canonical sponsorship of elementary and high schools previously sponsored by five Dominican congregations. Regina Dominican High School completed the first phase of its Building Her Tomorrow renovation, and Rosarian Academy expanded its facilities to accommodate a growing number of students. 

6.    Sustainability:

Students from Barry University and Siena Heights University participated in the Environmental Leadership Experience (ELE) on the Motherhouse Campus; Sisters and Associates took part in two forums addressing air pollution in Detroit; and the solar array on the Motherhouse campus was blessed and dedicated. As part of a series of presentations sponsored by the Congregation’s Office of Racial Equity and Cultural Inclusion, Brad Frank, Director of Sustainability, gave a presentation, “Be a Better Earth Ally.”

7.    Equity and Inclusion: 

To help Sisters, Associates, and Co-workers to better understand people of diverse backgrounds, the Congregation’s Office of Racial Equity and Cultural Inclusion offered presentations by special guests, including topics Understanding Gender; Growing Up Me (Native American); and The World as We See It, by a panel of Black Siena Heights University students. Sister Susan Gardner, OP, participated in the Healing and Reconciliation Project for Native Americans in the United States. The Congregation hosted an Indigenous Peoples Day Teach-in. Sister Jamie Phelps, OP, gave the commencement address for Xavier University’s Black Catholic Studies Program graduates in New Orleans. 

8.    Women:

Dominican Sisters worldwide attended side events at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, led a UN webinar on empowering rural women. Both events took in March, the month dedicated to women.

9.    Human Interest: 

Sister Mariane Fahlman, OP, walked the El Camino Trail; Sister Geraldine Brownell celebrated her Jubilee in Heaven the day after celebrating her 75-year Jubilee at the Motherhouse; Sister Miriam Joseph Lekan was honored for her 100th birthday; and Co-workers at Motherhouse were recognized for milestone years of service. 

10.      Religious Life: 

Donna Markham, OP, received the Leadership Award from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) for her years of service and leadership. The elected leadership of Catholic women’s congregations of Sisters wrote a letter of support to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and State Rep. Samantha Steckloff in response to an antisemitic threat to the two elected leaders.