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August 13, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – The Adrian Dominican Sisters formally received Sister Jamie Caporizo as a novice on August 10, 2024, during a special ritual held in the context of Vespers, Evening Prayers. 

Sister Jamie will begin the first of her two years as a novice later this August, when she travels to Chicago to participate in the Inter-Congregational Collaborative Novitiate (ICCN). During this year, Sister Jamie and novices from other congregations of Catholic Sisters will live in community and focus on the elements of religious life, such as prayer, theological study at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, formal weekly meetings with other novices, and spiritual direction. Each novice will also learn about the spirituality of her own congregation.  

“I’m grateful for all the opportunities for growth that I’ve been given this year,” Sister Jamie said. As a Candidate, she learned about the Congregation through various experiences, often visiting Sisters in ministries from Adrian and Flint, Michigan, to the Dominican Republic. “Each of our Sisters and our Associates has varied gifts and varied talents, and yet at the heart of it all was our mission,” she said.

Sister Jamie, a native of Stamford, Connecticut, began her formal discernment process with the Adrian Dominican Sisters a year ago with her entrance as a Candidate. After earning a bachelor's degree in music education and choral conducting from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, she taught music at her alma mater, Rippowam School in Stamford, Connecticut. 

While earning her master’s degree in sacred music from the University of Notre Dame, Sister Jamie served as a liturgy intern with the Sisters of the Holy Cross. She continued working for the Sisters for five years as Director of Music and Liturgy. While discerning her call to enter the Adrian Dominican Sisters, she began a new ministry at Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania, first as a campus minister and then as Senior Director of Mission and Ministry.

Sister Patricia Walter, OP, Sister Jamie’s mentor and Dominican Charism Formator, welcomed the assembly to the Rite of Reception and affirmed Sister Jamie’s readiness to begin the next step of her initial formation. “From the very first week, she has said ‘we’ when talking about this Congregation and offered her considerable gifts to us,” Sister Patricia noted. “She has wholeheartedly embraced community life with Sisters in Siena House and here on campus. She has warm-heartedly responded to needs in a variety of places, ministering creatively and effectively.”

Sister Patricia Harvat, OP, in her reflection during the service, agreed. “You are ready, Jamie, for God to write the next chapter in your life,” she said. “The margins are clean and space open for the unfolding words of love, mercy, and hope. Your desire to continue this Dominican journey is bold.” 

During the Rite of Reception, Prioress Elise D. García, OP, formally examined Sister Jamie on her desire to be “received into the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian as a Novice, and to experience more fully our way of life in faithful observance of our Rule and Constitution.” 

Sister Jamie received a copy of the Congregation’s Constitution with the instruction to study and reflect upon the document as she continues to discern her call to religious life. She was also presented with and clothed in a preaching garment, with the words of Sister Elise: “Receive this garment, sign of your desire to preach God’s word.”

Sister Jamie will travel to the Inter-Congregational Collaborative Novitiate in Chicago on August 24, 2024, accompanied by Sister Sara Fairbanks, OP, Novice Director.  

The Adrian Dominican Sisters encourage single Catholic women, ages 19 to 35, to consider whether God is calling them to vowed Dominican life. A weekend retreat, “Come and See for Yourself,” is at Weber Retreat and Conference Center September 20-22, 2024. For information, contact Sister Katherine Frazier, OP, at [email protected] or register online at https://tinyurl.com/ADSDiscern.

By Patrick Bittorf
Vice President for Development, Catholic Theological Union

July 29, 2024, Chicago – Sister Barbara Reid, OP, PhD, President of Catholic Theological Union (CTU), recently announced the appointment of Sister Donna Markham, OP, PhD, as the CTU Fellow in Catholic Leadership Toward Global Healing. 

Sister Donna retired last year as President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA after providing nine years of transformative leadership as the first woman to lead the organization. During her tenure, she spearheaded significant growth within the Catholic Charities network, expanding its reach to serve more than 15 million vulnerable individuals annually.

“We are thrilled that Sister Donna has accepted our invitation to become a CTU Fellow,” Sister Barbara stated. “As a woman religious and one who has devoted her life to personal and global healing, she embodies the kind of minister CTU aims to form for the Church and the world. Through seminars, Colloquia, teaching, writing, and public speaking, she will help mentor our students and will continue to inspire people of goodwill throughout the world.”

The appointment of Sister Donna as CTU Fellow follows her being honored by the school with its 2024 Blessed Are the Peacemakers Award for her active engagement in global peace initiatives and processes of reconciliation, as well as the suffering of vulnerable people in the United States, particularly refugees and the unhoused. 

Accepting the appointment, Sister Donna stated, “CTU plays a crucial role in the preparation of leaders for the future of our Church, and I am deeply honored to join this fine institution in its mission.”

As a CTU Fellow, Sister Donna continues her dedication to her life as an Adrian Dominican Sister and a licensed and board-certified clinical psychologist to the ministry of personal and global healing, helping foster personal and organizational change. Since receiving her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Detroit, she has been involved in executive leadership, organizational change management, teaching, and clinical practice.  

Sister Donna also served in leadership in the Adrian Dominican Congregation, first as a member of the General Council with Prioress Nadine Foley, OP, from 1986 to 1992. At the end of that term, she was elected President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), an organization of the leaders of about 80 percent of the U.S. congregations of women religious. She served as Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation from 2004 to 2010.

She was named a Fellow of the American Board of Professional Psychology and of the American Academy of Clinical Psychology and served as Honorary President of the Canadian Psychological Association. Sister Donna is the recipient of 14 honorary doctorates and, during her recent tenure leading Catholic Charities USA, was named each year as one of the top 50 nonprofit leaders in the United States by The Nonprofit Times.

Catholic Theological Union is a Roman Catholic graduate school of theology and ministry located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Founded in 1968, following the Second Vatican Council, CTU prepares effective leaders for the Church, ready to witness to Christ’s good news of justice, love, and peace. More than 4,500 CTU alumni have ministered in 60 countries. CTU is sponsored by 24 men’s religious communities, with a global reputation for academic and pastoral excellence.