SAN DIEGO — “No thanks.”
That was Sister Kathy Warren’s response when first invited to apply for the position of director of San Diego’s diocesan Office for Women Religious.
She wasn’t interested in relocating from her native Rochester, Minnesota, and was happily leading Franciscan pilgrimages to Assisi and Rome and giving talks on Franciscan spirituality.
But when the question was posed a third time and, especially once she realized that the part-time position wouldn’t require her to stop promoting the Franciscan message of nonviolence and peace, she recognized God’s hand at work.
“I know this of God. I know the invitation is coming for a reason, so strong, three times,” Sister Warren, who is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Rochester, recalled thinking.
Her ultimate “yes” led to nine years as head of the Office for Women Religious, where she served as the official liaison between the bishop and the consecrated women who live and minister in the diocese. Currently, there are about 145 of them, representing 28 congregations.
Sister Warren, who turned 77 in June, stepped down as the office’s director on May 28. The previous month, she had been elected to a four-year term as the leader of
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