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April 24, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – In a recent Global Sisters Report article, Catholic Sisters from throughout the United States paid tribute to Pope Francis in response to his death on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88. He was remembered fondly for the inspiration and example he gave in reaching out to people who are marginalized, including immigrants; his support of women, and particularly of women religious; his call for care for Earth in his encyclical, Laudato Si’; his initiative to bring the Catholic Church together through the Synod on Synodality; and his efforts to bring about peace and justice.

Near the middle of the article, Adrian Dominican Sister Durstyne Farnan, OP, Dominican Leadership Conference representative to the United Nations, said she was inspired by Laudato Si’ and by the pope’s commitment to protecting the planet. “I am terribly grateful for him and his vision,” she said in the article.

Read the entire article by Dan Stockman and Chris Herlinger.  

Another Global Sisters Report article by Dan Stockman and Chris Herlinger quotes the statement by the General Council in response to the death of Pope Francis.

Sister Donna Markham, OP, former Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, met Pope Francis during his September 2015 visit to the United States when she was President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA. She accompanied him during his visit to a Catholic Charities soup kitchen in Washington, D.C., where he had lunch with the soup kitchen guests who were experiencing homelessness. 

The next day, Sister Donna had a private audience with Pope Francis in a local home. In an article published in the April 23, 2025, issue of The Daily Telegram, a newspaper serving Adrian and Lenawee County, she recalled noting tears in the eyes of other people who had just met privately with him. 

“I remember thinking that he represented absolute goodness and compassion,” Sister Donna was quoted as saying in the Telegram article. “And there was a certain genuineness about him, like I was the only person in the world for those few minutes that I was able to talk with him.”

Read the entire article by David Panian here. Please note that a subscription is required to read the article.

 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Donna Markham, OP, then President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, greets Pope Francis in a private meeting during the pope’s 2015 visit to the United States.

May 2, 2022, Washington, D.C. – Pope Francis’ message of the need to reach out to people on the margins is “spiritually exhilarating” to those who work directly with people suffering from poverty and marginalization. That was the perspective of Sister Donna Markham, OP, PhD, who, as President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, has dedicated her own life to reaching out to people in need.

Sister Donna Markham, OP

In an article in a recent issue of Our Sunday Visitor, Sister Donna said Pope Francis’ message was credible because of his own work with people in poverty. “His whole life in Latin America has put him face to face with people in abject poverty,” she told Our Sunday Visitor. “He knows how to engage with them.”

Sister Donna experienced the pope’s dedication to struggling people first-hand when, in September 2015, she accompanied him on a tour of agencies that serve people in poverty in New York and Washington, D.C. She was present for his visit to Catholic Charities, when he visited people who were homeless; for his address to the United Nations; and for his visit with immigrants at Queen of Angels School in Harlem. 

Read the article about Pope Francis and his concern for people suffering from poverty.

 

Feature photo: Pope Francis addresses dignitaries on the White House Lawn during his 2015 tour of the United States, including New York and Washington, D.C. The photo was taken by Sister Donna Markham, OP, PhD, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, who was invited to several events during the pope’s visit. Adrian Dominican Sisters File Photo