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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.

August 20, 2019, Scottsdale, Arizona – Sister Elise D. García, OP, General Councilor of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, was elected President-Elect of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) August 15, 2019, during the organization’s assembly in Scottsdale, Arizona.

As President-Elect, Sister Elise will serve on the three-member leadership team for the LCWR, along with the President, Holy Cross Sister Sharlet Wagner, and Past President, Sister Jayne Helmlinger, a Sister of St. Joseph of Orange, California. Sister Elise will serve as President next year.

The LCWR is comprised of the elected leadership of Catholic Sisters, representing about 80 percent of the Sisters in the United States. Sister Elise, formerly Director of Communications for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, has served on the LCWR National Board.

Read more about the 2019 LCWR assembly in the Global Sisters Report article by Dan Stockman, and scroll down toward the end of the article for more information about Sister Elise and her election.