History
Our Congregation’s History
A close collaboration of the seven founding congregations of the Dominican Sisters of Peace initially arose through the Dominican Alliance, a venture of Dominican sisters in which the congregations all participated. As a result of discussion at an Alliance meeting, leaders from the Akron Dominican and Columbus Dominican congregations began conversations about doing more together. Soon, New Orleans St. Mary Dominicans expressed an interest and was invited to join in the conversation. These three congregations initially formed what would become known as the “Dominican Cluster,” a group exploring possibilities of working together to better serve the common Dominican mission.
In 2003, other congregations were invited to join in the Cluster conversation. The three initial congregations were joined by the Eucharistic Missionaries of New Orleans followed by the Kentucky Dominicans, the Oxford Dominicans and the Great Bend Dominicans. The seven congregations embarked on a seven-cycle discernment process designed to engage all Sisters in prayer, reflection, idea-sharing, and decision making.
After years of prayer, discussion, and discernment, the congregations held Chapter meetings in the spring of 2007, where each congregation voted in favor of petitioning the Holy See for permission to form a new congregation together. With the congregational decision made, each Sister was then asked to make a personal decision through a Statement of Intent process. The results of these, along with various other required documents, were sent in a petition to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome at the end of September. The letter of approval was dated November 7, 2007 – the Feast of All Dominican Saints.
Preparations began to unite the seven congregations, with the Sisters working on details from choosing a new name to drafting constitutional language and a new governance structure. The official founding date of the Dominican Sisters of Peace was Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009.