Chosen for Times Such as These – 2026 Dominican Sisters Conference Elected Leaders Meeting
from Dominican Sisters Conference, United States; adapted by Pat Siemen, OP, NA DSIC Continental Coordinator
When leaders from fifteen Dominican Congregations gathered in Columbus, Ohio, from September 29 to October 1, they came carrying the hopes and struggles of their communities. They left carrying something more: a renewed sense that they are, in the words of this year’s theme, Chosen for Times Such as These. Seventy-two leadership members, joined by DSA Representatives, the North American Justice Promoter, Sr. Reg McKilip, OP; the UN DSIC Representative, Sr. Ann Pratt; Sr. Margaret Mayce, the Executive Director of Dominican Sisters International Confederation, and the North American Continental Coordinator, Sr. Patricia Siemen, spent three days praying, listening, and dreaming together about the future of Dominican life.
The tone was set on the first evening. S. Kathleen Tuite reminded the Sisters that in a fragmented world, being preachers of hope remains their compass, and she offered words that would echo throughout the gathering: “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” As a representative of each Congregation carried a candle to the front of the room, Executive Director S. Xiomara Méndez Hernández posed the question at the heart of the meeting: “What does it mean to be chosen for these times?” Communion, she said, does not ask us to avoid what is difficult, but to face it together and remain open to possibility. The evening closed as oils from every Congregation were blended into one.
The next day, the Sisters looked honestly at the realities of our nation and world. The Dominican Sisters International Confederation panel spoke of migration, poverty, violence, the vulnerability of women and girls, and declining membership in many regions. Yet each pointed toward hope. S. Pat Siemen reminded the group that times of breakdown can lead to breakthrough, and S. Margaret Mayce, quoting Václav Havel, offered that hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, “but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
In the afternoon, the Hopi Elders’ Prophecy invited the Sisters to let go of the shore and push off into the middle of the river, eyes open, seeing who is in the water with them. In small circles and then as a whole room, they named the wisdom rising among them, and the day ended with voices joined in the Dominican Magnificat.
The final day brought both farewell and welcome. S. Kathleen Tuite was thanked and blessed at the close of her term, and S. Kathleen Tait was blessed as she begins her ministry of leadership for the DSC. With one voice and no opposition, the members affirmed the DSC Statement of Intentions, a vision that moves from “I” to “WE” to “ONE.” The Futuring Leadership Team then shared some of the most hopeful news of all: younger Sisters, in conversation for three years, are imagining a shared future together, with most favoring Union with Non-Canonical Regions. Leaders were encouraged to listen closely to these voices and walk with them.
The gathering ended where it began. Each Prioress was anointed with the oils blended on the first night and, in turn, anointed the members of her leadership team. It was a quiet, powerful sign of what these days revealed: the road ahead is unknown, but no one walks it alone. Chosen for these times, the Dominican Sisters are, together, the ones they have been waiting for.
