New Leadership Team Installed
The Sisters of Saint Francis, Rochester, MN, held an installation ceremony on Sunday, July 5, 2026, welcoming their new leadership team for 2026-2030: Sister Kathleen Warren, President/Community Minister, and Sisters Charlotte Hesby, Christine Stanoch, and Karen Collette as Councilors.
L to R: Sisters Christine Stanoch, Kathleen Warren, Karen Collette and Charlotte Hesby
CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER / PRESIDENT:
Sister Kathleen Warren, a native of Rochester, Minnesota, was born at St. Marys Hospital and was educated at St. John’s Grade School and Lourdes High School. She graduated from the College of St. Teresa, and later earned M.A. degrees from Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois (Religious Studies) and the Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University, Olean, New York (Franciscan Studies). She also holds a Doctor of Ministry degree (Interreligious Studies) from the Graduate Theological Foundation, South Bend, Indiana.
Sister Kathleen has served in parish ministries throughout southern Minnesota and in Colorado Springs. Her work with RENEW International (Newark, NJ) enabled her to share her gifts with dioceses and parishes in developing countries around the world. She also spent many years as a pilgrimage guide with the Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs while engaging in interreligious dialogue ministry. She is the author of a book on the historic meeting between St. Francis and Sultan Malek al‑Kamil and contributed to the production of two related documentary films.
Within her own Franciscan community, Sister Kathleen has served in incorporation ministry, on a previous leadership team, in ongoing formation for Sisters and Cojourners, and on numerous congregational committees and councils, including the Cojourner Advisory Council.
She comes to this new role after nine years of service as Director of the Office for Women Religious in the Diocese of San Diego, where she supported and collaborated with the Sisters of San Diego. Within the diocese, she helped strengthen relationships among congregations and advance their shared mission. She remains deeply grateful for the Sisters whose faith, insight, and sisterhood enriched and shaped her ministry in lasting ways.
“Returning to Rochester—the Community that first nurtured my faith and shaped my Franciscan vocation—is both humbling and deeply meaningful. My ministry has taken me from the rural western parishes of the Dioceses of Winona‑Rochester and New Ulm, to the early days of the Diocese of Colorado Springs as RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) was taking root in the U.S., and across cultures, continents, and faith traditions. These encounters have broadened my understanding of the Gospel and our shared humanity. As I step into this new leadership role, I carry with me the wisdom and hope I have witnessed throughout the country and around the world. I look forward to bringing my Rochester roots together with my national and global interfaith experience in service to our shared Franciscan mission, guided by a spirit‑centered attentiveness to God’s presence in the Franciscan tradition of simplicity and compassion.”
COUNCILORS:
Sister Charlotte Hesby, a native of Rochester, Minnesota, joined the Sisters of St. Francis after graduation from Lourdes High School. Upon earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Mt. Mary College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she was employed by Mayo Clinic–Rochester as a Therapist, and then as Supervisor of Occupational Therapy. She later earned a Master of Arts degree in Theology from the College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Sister Charlotte was engaged in a variety of positions in Hudson, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, as she searched for a more contemplative life. She was ultimately led to become a hermit in 1989, and has since lived as a hermit in Indiana, Chicago, Illinois, Janesville, Minnesota, and Rochester, Minnesota. She previously served on the Finance Committee, the Board of Trustees of the Academy of Our Lady of Lourdes 2015–2018, and as Associate Minister/Councilor 2018–2022.
She brings her experiences in contemplative living, health care, property management, and finance to the multi-layered role of Associate Minister/Councilor.
Sister Charlotte states, “The theme for my entrance into life as a hermit was a quote from Teilhard de Chardin’s The Divine Milieu: ‘Let us leave the surface, and without leaving the world, plunge into God.’ This is what the spiritual life is about: a plunge into God which is immersed in the ordinariness of daily life. For me, today’s call to Leadership is to somehow help nurture and deepen the immersion in God which each Sister and Cojourner desires.”
Sister Christine Stanoch, a native of Chicago, Illinois, met the Rochester Franciscan Sisters when she attended St. Juliana School in junior high. After high school, she entered the Sisters of Saint Francis, Rochester, Minnesota. During her Formation years, she attended the College of Saint Teresa in Winona, Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree, with a concentration in music. In addition, Sister Christine received two Master Degrees from Loyola University of Chicago – one in Pastoral Studies with a concentration in Spirituality, and another in Pastoral Counseling.
Early in her ministry, Sister Christine taught in the following cities of Minnesota: Owatonna, Rochester, Delano, Austin, and Winona. She also taught in Norfolk, Nebraska, and at the Jesuit High School in Wilmette, Illinois. Later, Sister Christine served various ministries, to include: work in the Pastoral Care Department of the College of Saint Teresa; as a Liturgist in Austin, Minnesota; as the Director of Religious Education in two parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago; and as a Pastoral Associate in Evergreen Park, Illinois. Before returning to Rochester, she spent 13 years working as a therapist at an ecumenical psychotherapy/counseling center in Illinois. Sister Christine also served as a Spiritual Director for Deacons, their wives, and others – to include both Sisters and lay women and men serious about their spiritual life.
Sister Christine returned to Rochester in 2011, and completed a residency program for Pastoral Education at Mayo Clinic. She also served on the Congregation’s elected leadership team from 2012-2018. In addition, she was asked to serve on the Board for Clinical Pastoral Education for five years at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. In January 2023, Sister Christine was appointed to serve as a Councilor and served on the Leadership team through June, 2026.
Her volunteer activities include working with the Mayo Hospice program visiting patients in a variety of settings, and serving as a co-leader in Bereavement Groups. In addition, Sister Christine has served on various Congregational Committees and Task Force groups.
Sister Karen Collette, a native of Denver, Colorado, graduated from Regis College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology and Philosophy. In 1979, she moved to Rochester, Minnesota, and began formation with the Rochester Franciscans, spending time at St. Edward Catholic Church, in Austin, Minnesota, as a visiting member of the parish.
Sister Karen then moved to Bloomington, Minnesota, working as a medical clerk, until returning to Rochester to make final vows. She spent most of her years of ministry working primarily with the elderly as a home health aide and personal care attendant. She also spent 6 years scheduling staff at Fairview Southdale in the Twin Cities. In her mid-40s, she received an associate degree in veterinary medicine as a veterinary technician, and then spent the next 10 years at veterinary clinics working with small animals.
In 2010, she was asked to serve as the Director of Residential Life at Assisi Heights; a position she held for 11-1/2 years. Prior to serving on this Leadership Team, she retired and continued volunteering with our elderly Sisters.