1999
October: A meeting of European prioresses general or their delegates in Herne, Belgium. DSE was founded and our congregations decided to meet again and discuss the possibility of having their own region within DSE.
2000
January: A meeting of prioresses general of six congregations from Central and Eastern Europe in Prague (Croatia – Sr. Katarina Maglica OP, Czech Republic – Sr. Slavomira Merickova OP, Hungary – Sr. Dora Rauscher OP, 2x Poland – Sr. Barbara-Zofia Pawelczyk OP? and Sr. Monika Drabik OP?, Slovakia – Sr. Rajmunda Palenikova OP). The DSI international coordinator, Sr. Margaret Ormond OP, was also present, as well as Sr. Hanna Remke, the coordinator of the German-speaking zone. Our region came into being.
Sr. Dora A. Rauscher OP (Hungary) became the delegate + coordinator of the region.
Irish and English Dominican Sisters invited us to study languages living in their communities (Cambridge, Dublin). Individual Sisters from our region started going there and spending some weeks, months or even years living with our English speaking Sisters. This cooperation still continues.
2001
July: a workshop on Dominican Spirituality and history (Dominican Saints) for young Sisters from our region – Köszeg, Hungary. The lecturers: Sr. Patricia Walter OP + Sr. Ann Willits OP from USA. 66 participants from Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Köszeg is a very important place for three of our congregations. The Hungarian Congregation was founded in this town in 1868. The sisters from Köszeg founded another convent later - in Gleisdorf, Austria, from where the Czech and Slovak Congregations later arose. It was a very interesting and moving experience that just those three Congregations with "common roots" met at this workshop.
2003
Summer: another workshop on Dominican Spirituality – Velehrad, Czech Republic. The lecturers: Sr. Patricia Walter OP + Fra Michael Mascari OP from the USA. About 63? participants from Slovakia, Norway, Hungary, England and Czech Republic.
2005
July: another workshop on Dominican Spirituality and Formation (Dominican Mystics, Moral Theology) held in the town of Nitra, Slovakia. The lecturers: Sr. Margaret Ormond OP, Sr. Patricia Walter OP, Fra Charles E. Bouchard OP. 69 participants from Slovakia, Hungary, England, Czech Republic and Croatia.
2006
July: a 4-week course for general council members of the congregations in the region, held in Goteborg, Sweden. Lecturers: Sr. Raymunda Jordan OP (Planning processes), Sr. Mary O'Driscoll OP (Spirituality of leadership), Sr. Joan Scanlon OP (Psychological issues in leadership), Sr. Sara Boehmer OP (Financial matters). Participants: members of the general councils from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
2008
July: a workshop on Preaching in the town of Eger, Hungary. The lecturers: Sr. Margaret Ormond OP, Fra Manuel Merten OP. About 70 participants from Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria.
2009
May: a meeting of prioresses general or their delegates in Budakeszi, Hungary. Participants from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
July: language courses (4 weeks) organized by DSE in England, Germany and Ireland. About 30 participants from Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia.
2010
May: Sr. Dora OP (Hungary) finished her task as the delegate + coordinator of the region, Sr. Krista OP (CR) nominated to continue.
Autumn: regional DSE web section started at www. dominikanky.cz
2011
April: the delegate met the general councils of three congregations (Hungary, Slovakia, CR). See “Report from DSE-CE” for the DSE coordination meeting 2011.
April, May: abbreviation voting – Slovak, Hungarian and Czech sisters involved. The abbreviation of our region: DSE-CE (Dominican Sisters Europe – Central and Eastern Region).
June: regional trial website started: http://dsece.weebly. com
November 19 - a meeting of general councils in Slovakia. See Fotogalerie at www. dominikanky. cz or the report.
2012
15-21 July workshop in Olomouc, Czech Republic. See the Gallery for some of the photos the sisters took.
DSE-CE logotype
2013
May: Sr. Krista OP (CR) finished her task as the delegate + coordinator of the region, Sr. Lucia OP (Hungary) nominated to continue. The DSE "Young" Council was formed with young sisters as delegates of the regions, to aid the coordinator of Europe, sr. Else-Britt OP (Norway).
The DSE Council met for the first time at the end of October in Oslo, Norway. Sr. Lucia started the DSE-CE Newsletter, sent out to all the congregations in the region.
2014
Summer: General (elective) chapters in the Slovak and Czech congregations. Sr. Rajmunda and Sr. Krista respectively, were elected general prioresses of their congregations.
October: The DSE Council met for the second time between 22-24. October, in Wien, Austria.
2015
March: The prioresses general and the delegates of the congregations present in the region met in Budakeszi, Hungary, between 13-15. March. Participants from Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Slovenia attended.
The updating of the website started in March.
Summer: Regional OP spirituality workshop, held in Badin, Slovakia, 13-18. July. Sisters from other parts of Europe were also invited, and so we had about 80 sisters from 11 countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, France, Slovenia, England, Ireland, Germany, Sr. Else-Britt, DSE Coordinator from Norway, and Sr. Marie-Therese, DSI Coordinator from Italy). Lecturers: Sr. Hedvig Deak OP (Hungary), Fr. Vivian Boland OP, vicar of the Master of the Order. Topic: Theology and mission of religious life. Visit the Gallery and see some of the innumerable photos we took.
October: the DSE Council met for the annual council meeting in Budapest, Hungary. An updated version of DSE Statutes was prepared, and sent out to the regions/ language zones for approval.
2016
May: DSI General Assembly in Rome. Sister Else-Britt reelected as the coordinator for Europe. Sister Lucia's term of office as DSE-CE regional coordinator ended, but she was renominated to continue for another three years.
Spring: meeting of noviciates for Czech and Hungarian postulants, novices and their novice mistresses for common days of study
Summer: elective general chapter of the Hungarian Dominican Sisters, sr. Hedvig Deak reelected as prioress general for another six years.
21-14 October: the DSE Council met in Dublin, Ireland.
2017
July- August: language learning possibility offered by the Dominican Sisters of Cabra in Ireland, young sisters from the Hungarian and Czech Congregation participated from our region.
22-25 September: Meeting of smaller European congregations about our future in Europe. Czech, Slovakian and Hungarian congregations participated from our region.
23-26 October: the DSE Council met for the annual council meeting in Rome, Italy. It was a happy occasion, since a representative of the Spanish region was also able to participate.
2018
This year is a jubilee year for two of the congregations in our region: the Dominican Sisters of St. Margaret of Hungary celebrate the 150th anniversary of their foundation, and the Dominican Sisters of Blessed Imelda, Slovakia, celebrate their 75th anniversary.
12-17 July: 7th Dominican Spirituality Workshop held in Koszeg, Hungary, with 84 participants from 11 different countries (15 nationalities), mostly from the region, but also from the rest of Europe. The topic was "Women in the Bible", with two excellent lecturers, brother Phillipe Lefebvre OP from the University of Fribourg, and sister Nazik Matty OP from the University of Erbil, Iraq. We also had enriching talks given by sr. Marie Therese Clement, international coordinator of DSI, sr. Cecilia Espanilla, coordinator of Justice in Peace for DSI and sr. Marjolein Brunein, secretary of UCESM, who talked about human trafficking, especially women and children. Visit the gallery to see some of the numerous photos we took, "documenting" our wonderful gathering. To quote sr. Marie Therese: we, dominican sisters, wherever we are, whatever we face with God, "we are a happy bunch".