Sisters of Mercy elect new leadership team

the newly elect will serve the Sisters of Mercy for the next six years.

The Sisters of Mercy new leadership team is comprised of Sister Patricia Flynn, (seated from l.) first councilor, and Susan Sanders, president, and Sisters Maureen King, (standing from l.), Judith Frikker and Teresa Bednarz. (Photo provided)

The 2023 Chapter of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas ended on April 22 after the election of the leadership team that will serve for the next six years. The Chapter was held from April 12-22 in St. Louis, Mo.

This was the seventh Chapter since the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas was founded in 1991. The gathering was comprised of 118 elected delegates, 21 alternates, and five ex-officio members. The delegates and alternates assembled to elect the next leadership team, to review and approve changes to the Constitutions of the Institute, and to collaborate in setting and reaffirming the priorities and concerns of the Sisters of Mercy for the next six years.

Susan Sanders, RSM, was elected as the next institute president, an office she will formally assume on Aug. 1. Sister Susan Sanders entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1973 in Chicago, Ill., where she began her ministry in education. After receiving her master’s in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley, she helped to found the McAuley Institute, a program focused on providing housing to low-income seniors. Receiving her doctorate in public policy from the University of Chicago, Sister Susan returned to education, becoming associate professor of public policy at the graduate School of Public Policy at DePaul University. She later founded the Center for Religion and Public Discourse at St. Xavier University in Chicago, where she also served as the vice president for University Mission and Heritage. Sister Susan began serving in community leadership in 2013, later becoming president of the former West Midwest Community. In 2021, she became an institute minister, an appointed leadership position.

Sister Susan will assume the office currently held by Sister Patricia McDermott. Sister Patricia has served in institute leadership since 1999, including two consecutive terms as Institute president.

Patricia Flynn, RSM, was re-elected to a six-year term as first councilor. Sister Patricia Flynn entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1968 in Portland, Maine, serving in teaching ministries at the middle school, high school and college levels. She earned a bachelor’s in English and history from St. Joseph’s College of Maine, a master’s in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in philosophy from Georgetown University. Sister Patricia later served for eight years as the director of pastoral and education services for the Diocese of Portland, Maine, before returning to teaching at St. Joseph’s College. She was elected to leadership in the former Northeast Community in 2014 and to institute leadership in 2017.

Teresa Bednarz, RSM, was elected as councilor. Sister Teresa Bednarz grew up in Texas, and entered the Sisters of Mercy in St. Louis in 1985, and has ministered in education at the primary and secondary levels. In addition to earning an associate’s degree from South Plains College (Levelland, Texas), a bachelor’s in learning disabilities and history from West Texas State A&M University, a master’s in biblical theology from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and a doctorate in biblical interpretation from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Sister Teresa also studied theology at St. Louis University and the Aquinas Institute in St. Louis, and at the Black Catholic Institute at Xavier University in New Orleans, La. She taught scriptural courses at Loyola University-New Orleans, and directed the university’s Rome-based study-abroad program. She designed service learning/social justice programs for Mercy high schools in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Little Rock, Ark., helped to develop a transitional housing program for women in Oklahoma City, and served on the governor of Oklahoma’s volunteerism task force.

Judith Frikker, RSM, was re-elected to a six-year term as councilor. Sister Judith Frikker entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1967 in Farmington Hills, Mich. After receiving her bachelor’s at Mercy College of Detroit, she attended medical school at Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine. She ministered as a physician in Michigan before spending 12 years in Chile as a physician and pastoral worker. Sister Judith has spent 21 years ministering in leadership with the Sisters of Mercy; she was in leadership with the former West Midwest Community before being elected to institute leadership in 2017.

Maureen King, RSM, entered the Sisters of Mercy in 2004 in Glendale, N.Y. Sister Maureen King received a bachelor’s degree in organizational management and a master's in organizational management with a concentration in human resources management, both from St. Joseph’s University in Brooklyn. Between 2004-15, she ministered at Mercy Home for Children in Brooklyn, a program serving individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities; she served from 2015-21 at MercyFirst, a social service ministry serving children and families in Brooklyn. Sister Maureen was appointed as an institute minister in 2021.

About the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas: The Sisters of Mercy — an international community of Roman Catholic women — dedicate their lives to God through vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and service. For more than 190 years, motivated by the Gospel of Jesus and inspired by the spirit of their founder, Catherine McAuley, the Sisters of Mercy have responded to the changing needs of the times.