What's Happening

August 10, 2026, St. Catharine, Kentucky – Some 22 Dominican sisters under the age of 60 from seven U.S.-based congregations gathered for a retreat in mid-July at the St. Catharine, Kentucky, Motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Peace.

Adrian Dominicans who attended were Sisters Nery “Luchy” Sori, OP, Katherine Frazier, OP, and Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP; Sister Jamie Caporizo, a novice who will profess her first vows on August 8, 2026; Elizabeth Guerrero, a candidate who will be received into the novitiate on August 7, 2026; and Sister Lorraine Réaume, OP, General Councilor, who served as support staff during the gathering. 

Other congregations represented were the Dominican Sisters of Houston, Mission San Jose, Peace, Racine, Sinsinawa, and Springfield. All are among the congregations that are part of the Dominican Sisters Conference (DSC).  

“Back in September, we had a Zoom with the Under 60s in particular, and they expressed a desire to get together in person,” Sister Lorraine explained. Sister Pat Connick, OP, a Dominican Sister of Peace, offered to host the gathering at the St. Catharine Motherhouse and to provide some input. 

“We on the planning team went back often to say, ‘Is this a meeting? Is this a retreat? Or is this a futuring conversation?’,” Sister Jamie explained. “We tried very hard to make it all three. We wanted to pray together, talk together, and play together.”

The week-long gathering included a retreat, focused on three input sessions by Sister Pat on “The Universe Story and Models of Living Community”; conversations in the Spirit, in which participants spoke from the heart about topics such as their call as a Dominican sister and their hopes for Dominican life in the future; prayer; optional outings; and informal time together.

  
Left: Sister Katherine Frazier, OP, speaks to the large group during one of the conversations of heart during the gathering. Right: Sister Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP, offers a reflection.

“The DSC Under 60 Retreat was such a blessing,” Sister Katherine said. “I had so many conversations where I got to know the other sisters better, whether we were taking walks on the property together, or through our time in synodal conversations.”

Sister Jamie said one of the highlights for her was being with women in her age group. “This was an opportunity to get to know our sisters on a deeper level, to talk about the future and the present, and to talk about the past – our home community, how we entered it.”

Sister Jamie said she has become even more excited about professing her vows since the gathering. During the gathering’s closing ritual, she said, “I looked around the table of women and all I could do was smile. I thought, ‘My vows made to God through my Adrian congregation are my vows to all the women sitting with me, because we will live our vows together.’”

Elizabeth, who had been a member of a smaller congregation for years, said she has felt overwhelmed by the size of the Dominican community. Still, she said, they feel like family. “Everybody brings a gift, but there was so much gift in the room – talents, skills, beauty, hope ... laughter for sure, and a joy about being together. I saw that as well.”

Sister Lorraine said there was heartfelt sharing and a sense of our common Dominican identity among the group. “That was probably one of the biggest gifts of [the gathering], the connectedness of Dominicans.... We recognized that we’re all different people and our congregations are different, but there’s a resonance among us.”

Sister Xiomara, Executive Director of the DSC, had a similar response. Even with a variety of congregations, she said, “it felt like we were speaking the same language. We created a brave space. It was a space that we made our own.”

In particular, Sister Xiomara said she was pleased with the engagement of the sisters in the conversations involving the future of Dominican life. Fourteen of the DSC congregations are exploring whether to become a union of U.S.-based Dominican congregations. “We were living union right there,” she said. “Some said if it looks like this and feels like this, we’re ready.”

Sister Luchy said the idea of forming a union didn’t seem to be too frightening for the younger sisters, many of whom had formed friendships with Dominicans in other congregations at the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate (CDN), first in St. Louis and recently in Chicago. Others who came later attended the Inter-Congregational Collaborative Novitiate (ICCR) in Chicago with novices from other women’s religious congregations. 

Regardless of the governmental structure, Elizabeth is confident in the future of Dominican life. “These women love being Dominican and they also love religious life, and they are on fire for the mission of Jesus Christ, that they’re going to do this together,” she said. 

But the sense of Dominican community extended beyond sisters in the under 60 cohort to all the sisters they encountered. “One of the greatest blessings was that we got to know the sisters who live at the Motherhouse in St. Catharine, Kentucky, better, and I know that they also enjoyed the opportunity to get to know us better,” Sister Katherine said. “One of them said that she was less apprehensive about the future because she had gotten to know all of us throughout the week.”

Sister Xiomara also feels confident. “As long as we are led by the Spirit, I am confident that all will be well,” she said. “I hope that we will listen to the Spirit. What is God’s dream for us?”

Feature photo at top: From left, Sister Nery “Luchy” Sori, OP; Gregoria Bueno-Rodriguez, transferring into the Dominican Sisters of Peace; Sister Jamie Caporizo; and Sister Lorraine Réaume, OP, General Councilor.