What's Happening

April 17, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, and Co-workers were among estimated millions of Americans who attended 1,400 Hands-Off Rallies throughout the United States April 5, 2025, to express their concern about the direction that the Trump Administration is taking the country.

Sister Kathleen Nolan, OP, Director of the Congregation’s Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, emphasized the importance of attending the rallies. “We responded to a national request that people participate in this demonstration and let the Trump Administration know that people are not pleased with the number of people who have been fired from government positions and the lack of funding for services that people really depend on. The voice of the people is essential in our democratic process.”

Sister Kathleen estimated that about 30 to 35 Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, and Co-workers attended the rally at the courthouse in Adrian. Other Sisters who were unable to attend the rally in person gathered at St. Catherine Chapel at the Motherhouse to pray in solidarity with the people at the courthouse.

Among the Sisters at the rally in Adrian was Sister Esther Kennedy, OP. “When I came to join in the protest at 11:30 there was a feeling of eager excitement as to our coming together in one voice to say to the President, Elon Musk, and the Congress, ‘Hands off our democracy and our programs of care and concern.’ We came together as a collective of voices, as a community of care and deep concern for all those suffering from the cuts.”

Associate Patricia “Patty” Gillis took her grandson to the rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “My sign refers to the talk about making Canada the 51st state and the tariff war that has been started,” she said. Dressed as a knight in armor, her grandson carried a shield and a sign reading, “Defend our schools.”

Associate Jane Bertsch said she felt honored to attend the rally in Detroit, which drew several thousand people who marched from the Detroit Institute of Arts down Woodward Avenue. “There was a great sense of community, and it bolstered my belief that many of us are against what is currently going on in this administration,” she said.

Sisters and Associates also attended rallies in the Chicago area, in Orlando and Hollywood, Florida, and California and Washington. They spoke of the sense of unity they felt as they spoke up for those who have no voice. 

“There was a feeling of oneness with the group, a sense of unity of purpose,” Sister Peg Albert, OP, wrote of her experience at the rally in Hollywood, Florida. People held signs referring to a variety of issues, including “environmental concerns, immigration injustices, and social security interference,” she noted. “It was a social, political, and spiritual experience for me. When our nation is so divided, it was nice to have an experience of solidarity.”

Associate Nery Cummings also attended the Hollywood rally. “A lot of people from all walks of life are scared of losing their social security benefits,” she said. “We felt we needed to stand up, resist, and be the voice of the voiceless. … We cannot let fear and hate win.”

Several Sisters and Associates participated in rallies in the Chicago area. Sister Mary Priniski, OP, wrote of her experience there among 30,000 participants with Sisters Judy Rimbey, OP, and Jean Keeley, OP. “It truly was an experience of camaraderie – all ages, all abilities,” Sister Mary said. “There was a feeling that our voices needed to be heard by the current administration.”

Sisters who had prior engagements during the rallies made the effort to stand in solidarity with those who attended the Hands-Off Rallies. A group of Adrian Dominican Sisters attending a special assembly of the Leadership Conference for Women Religious (LCWR) Region VII took a group photo, holding protest signs. Sisters from many of the other congregations involved in the assembly also posed with the signs in solidarity.

Read more about the participation of sisters throughout the country – including Adrian Dominican Sisters – in this National Catholic Reporter article by Chris Herlinger. 

 

Caption for above feature photo: Participants in the Orlando, Florida, Hands-Off Rally make their voices heard.

January 24, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, on behalf of the Congregation’s Sisters and Associates, issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s pardon of individuals who were convicted for their roles in the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.

 
President Trump’s pardon of 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol is unprincipled and dangerous.
 
It is a blanket affirmation of the criminal behavior of individuals who attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, assailing our democracy and injuring more than 140 police officers who valiantly put their lives on the line in defense of our Capitol and the members inside. One of the officers, Brian Sicknick, died of severe injuries and several others subsequently died by suicide.
 
As women of faith, we deeply believe in the virtue of mercy – particularly in giving mercy to those who repent and ask for forgiveness. In Hebrew, the word for mercy is rachamim, which has the same root words as “womb.” Mercy is akin to showing the love a mother has for her child. It also is translated as hesed, which means steadfast love – the enduring love that inspires compassion.
 
This was clearly not an act of mercy. It was an act of contempt.
 
It was an act of contempt for the U.S. Congress, the Constitution, the rule of law and all those who enforce it. It was an act that gives license to those freed from serving their court-ordered sentences, as well as others, to engage at will in acts of violent political opposition that endanger public servants and democratic institutions. It dishonors the brave law officers recognized by members of Congress of both parties on December 6, 2022, with their highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.
 
The pardons are not merciful; they are alarming.
 
We pray for the safety of all who continue to put their lives on the line to protect our democracy – in deep gratitude for their faithful and courageous service – and for all who now are at greater, unpardonable, risk.  

 
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Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters General Council are Sisters Elise D. García, OP, Prioress; Bibiana “Bless” Colasito, OP, and Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilors; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor.