The General Council
To enable us as a faith community to respond to God and to minister effectively, we establish governmental structures that free us for the ways of the Spirit. Our government flows from and animates our shared life and mission.
Our governmental structures at the local, provincial, and international levels provide for the participation of each member and for the exercise of authority.
We share Mother Theresa’s conviction that for our congregation central government strengthens us in our proclamation of the good news and is indispensable for fostering unity.
You Are Sent, Constitution 40, 42, 43
General Council, 2021-2024
Left to right: Irmã Inês Camiran, General Councilor/Vicar; Sestra M. Martina Radež, General Councilor;
Sister Roxanne Schares, General Superior; Sister Julianne Lattner, General Councilor;
Sister Carolyn Anyega, General Councilor
General Council, 2018-2021
Left to right: Irmã Inês Camiran, General Councilor/Vicar; Sestra M. Martina Radež, General Councilor;
Sister Roxanne Schares, General Superior; Sister Carolyn Anyega, General Councilor;
Sister Julianne Lattner, General Councilor; Sister Kathleen Storms, General Councilor.
Sister Roxanne Schares was elected general superior at the chapter. She will work with a team of four elected general councilors: Sister Inês Camiran, general councilor/vicar; Sister Carolyn Anyega, general councilor; Sister Julianne Lattner, general councilor; and Sister M. Martina Radež, general councilor; and Sister Kathleen Storms, general councilor.
The general council members began their six-year term when they were installed on 20 January 2018, at the Generalate in Rome, Italy.
Sister Roxanne Schares, general superior, will be the 12th successor to Blessed M. Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger, the foundress of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Before her election Sister Roxanne lived in Nairobi, Kenya, and served as the temporary professed director for the Province of Africa which includes The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria. Previously, Sister Roxanne was novice director for seven years; worked with the Jesuit Refugee Services in Africa for 10 years; and served as the International Shalom Coordinator (2007-2015) in Rome, Italy. Sister Roxanne entered the congregation in Mankato, Minnesota, USA, and was professed in 1972. She was missioned to Kenya in 1982 and is now a member of the Province of Africa.
Sister Inês Camiran, general councilor/vicar, is a native of Brazil. This is her second term as a general councilor and also now serve as vicar. Previously she was provincial leader of the former São Paulo Province, and worked as a teacher and in the formation of postulants. She was professed in 1985 in São Paulo, Brazil.
Sister Carolyn Anyega, general councilor, was headmistress of Notre Dame Senior Secondary School and lived in Sunyani, Ghana. She is a native of Kenya and has served in Ghana since 2005, when she was missioned to form community with the sisters in Sunyani and teach at the secondary school. Previously she taught in schools and served as headmistress in both East and West Africa; worked as vocation director and in the formation of postulants; and served as temporary professed director. She was professed in 1997 in Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa.
Sister Julianne Lattner, general councilor, served as a facilitator working with religious community groups and returning missionary groups in Canada. She has served as temporary professed director in the Province of Africa; as postulant director in Kenya; and as novice director for the former Interprovincial Novitiate in the United States. As a provincial councilor of the former Canadian Province, her leadership role took her to Bolivia, Peru, and England. She was professed in 1966 in Canada.
Sister Kathleen Storms, general councilor, was director of Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat Center in Wheatland, Iowa, USA, before her election. Her previous assignments included elementary and secondary education; novitiate director of the former Mankato Province; director of the Office of Vocations Ministry for the Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota; co-director of the SSND Center for Earth Spirituality in Mankato; and member of the Provincial Council of the former Mankato Province. She made her initial profession in 1966.
Sister M. Martina Radež, general councilor is a native of Slovenia. Prior to her election, she served as local leader of the community at Ilirska Bistrica, Slovenia, as well as working in the Mother Theresa Retreat Center in Ilirska Bistrica. Previously, she served on the provincial council for three terms and in the formation of candidates, postulants, and junior sisters. She was a novice in the Bavarian Province and professed her first vows in 1980 in Munich, Germany.