Sister Patricia Harvat, OP, elected to Adrian Dominican Sisters, General Council

Sister Patricia Harvat, OP, former director of formation for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, has been elected to serve as general councilor for the congregation, effective July 1, 2016. The election took place during session II of the Adrian Dominican Congregation’s 2016 General Chapter, held Feb.18-26 in Adrian, Mich.“Being Dominican is a sign of God’s grace in our world – a sign of hope for so many living a life of desperation,” Sister Patricia said. “To travel the path of the truth of the imagination, always seeking, questioning and enabling others to lead a reflective life would be an awesome journey to walk with committed women of the Gospel.”After teaching from 1971-1973 at Blessed Sacrament School in Toledo, Sister Patricia began a considerable number of years serving in other nations. From 1973-1981, she was involved in the Head Start program and in pastoral work in Puerto Rico. While working on her master’s degree at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, she spent a summer in Peru. From 1982-1989, Sister Patricia directed the congregation’s lay ministry program in the Dominican Republic.
Sister Patricia returned to the United States in 1989, teaching theology at Gabriel Richard High School in Riverview, Mich. until 1993, when she was named director of formation for the Adrian Dominican Congregation. After a year’s sabbatical spent at Our Lady of Grace Dominican Monastery in Conn. and in ministry in the Philippines, Sister Patricia began eight years of ministry as the director of lay ministry formation for the Hispanic Ministry Office of the Diocese of Cleveland. She began her current ministry as vice president of Dominican Catholic Identity for St. Mary’s Dominican High School in New Orleans in 2008, sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Serving with Sister Patricia on the General Council will be Sisters Patricia Siemen, OP, prioress-elect; Mary Margaret Pachucki, OP, vicaress/general councilor-elect; Frances Nadolny, OP, administrator/general councilor-elect; and Elise D. García, OP, general councilor-elect.