For The Pacific Voice

Guam’s Sister Mary Cabrini Taitano, RSM, blows the conch shell at the opening of the 2010 Assembly of the Sisters of Mercy-South Central Community outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, June 23-26. (Photos courtesy of Sisters of Mercy)

[Concord, North Carolina]. Nearly 400 Sisters of Mercy from 18 states, Guam and Jamaica gathered at the Concord Convention Center, outside of Charlotte, for the Sisters of Mercy – South Central Community Assembly June 23-26.

The Assembly theme “The tender mercy of God has given us one another” guided the sisters’ conversations.

The Assembly celebrated the geographic and cultural diversity of the Community, while addressing issues pertinent to the Community’s future including mission, ministry and new membership.

Keynote speaker Sister Margaret Farley, RSM, presented “Mercy Under the Sign of the Cross,” which addressed the unique challenges faced by Sisters of Mercy in today’s world. Sister Margaret is an author and the Gilbert L. Stark Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics at Yale University Divinity School. The Community also celebrated the reception of Sister Claudia Cano, who will enter the Sisters of Mercy novitiate in Laredo, Texas, in August.

Sister Kathy Green, RSM, president of the South Central Community, spoke during the opening session. “I see hundreds of faith-filled women who have passionately and authentically lived the call to follow Jesus in service to the poor, sick and ignorant with a generosity of spirit and a never-ending desire to meet the needs of the times,” said Sister Kathy.

Sister Maria Rosario Gaite, RSM, of the Sisters of Mercy in Guam directs the choir at the 2010 Assembly.

During Assembly, the South Central Community chose its delegates for the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Chapter, which will take place June 20-30, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. The sisters elected and the cities in which they minister are: Sister Marian Arroyo, Hagåtña, Guam; Sister Patricia Coward, Savannah, Georgia; Sister Linda Falquette, Toledo, Ohio; Sister Susan Frazer, Manchester, Jamaica; Sister Maria Rosario Gaite, Dededo, Guam; Sister Doris Gottemoeller, RSM Cincinnati, Ohio

Sister Mary Haddad, St. Louis, Missouri; Sister Jane Hotstream, Belmont, North Carolina; Sister Elizabeth Ann Linehan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Sister Ray Maria McNamara, Portland, Oregon; Sister Martha Milner, Biloxi, Mississippi; Sister Áine O’Connor, Baltimore, Maryland; Sister Angela Perez, Belmont, North Carolina

Sister Fran Repka, Cincinnati, Ohio; Sister Larretta Rivera-Williams, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Sister Pat Smith, Baltimore, Maryland; Sister Mary Stanton, Cincinnati, Ohio; Sister Deborah Troillett, Little Rock, Arkansas; Sister Paulette Williams, Charlotte, North Carolina; Sister Barbara Wheeley, Gastonia, North Carolina

Alternates: Sister Mary Rose Bumpus, Seattle, Washington; Sister Rose Marie Tresp, Gastonia, North Carolina.