Life of a missionary culminates with worldwide leadership role

In 1969, “a simple Midwest girl” born in Carroll, Iowa, signed up for a lifetime of adventure as a missionary.

Her religious vocation took her to far-flung Tanzania and Uganda, but also closer to home in Nebraska.

Now – with years of leadership experience and prayerful wisdom behind her – that simple Midwest girl, who became a Missionary Benedictine Sister, will soon embark on a new adventure.

In January, Sister Rosann Ocken, prioress of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters – Norfolk Priory, will move to Rome to lead her worldwide congregation of more than 1,200 sisters from 16 countries and four continents.

Sister Rosann was elected superior general of her order on Oct. 8, during a general chapter meeting in Rome. She was among 43 delegates representing their local communities at the general chapter, where from Sept. 24 to Oct. 29, they set out a direction and elected a team of leaders for the next six years.

News of her election as prioress general – the first ever for an American – came as a surprise to Sister Rosann – and to many members of her community back home, said Sister Michael Marie Rottinghaus, a subprioress who was in charge of the Norfolk sisters while their leader was in Rome.

Sister Rosann said that although she wasn’t expecting the new leadership role, she trusts that it’s what the Lord wants of her.

“God has chosen me to be this instrument of His mercy and His love for the sisters and for the people they minister to,” she said in a telephone interview after her return to Norfolk.

“And really, it’s not something that I feel particularly qualified for,” she said. “I mean, I’m a simple Midwest girl, to put it bluntly. But this is where God is asking me to serve. So I trust that.”

Sister Rosann
COURTESY PHOTO

After more than 50 years as a Missionary Benedictine, Sister Rosann is accustomed to both the unexpected and moving forward.

As a missionary, “one has to be ready,” she said. When she was called to serve in Tanzania, a family member told her, “Rosann, you can’t go. We need you here.”

“And I said … ‘This is what I signed up for. This is the plan.’”

“I just have to be ready to let go in major ways here,” she said of her latest transition, “like I did when I went to Africa. You just have to let go of things here and be ready to serve and put your whole heart and soul into what’s ahead, rather than what’s behind.”

Sister Rosann embraces two of the children she served in Tanzania. COURTESY PHOTO

Sister Rosann will be installed as superior general on Jan. 20.

Her education and experience have helped her prepare her for her new responsibilities.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Creighton University and a certificate in spiritual direction through a program of the Yankton Benedictine Sisters in South Dakota.

Sister Rosann has served as an elementary school teacher, a campus minister and at the Norfolk Priory as an oblate director for about 12 years.

She was elected as a community leader in Tanzania and later in Uganda before returning to Norfolk in 2018 to serve in leadership.

The Norfolk priory – which includes smaller communities in Winnebago and Sioux City, Iowa – has begun the process of electing a new prioress. The sisters expect the final stage of that process to be completed on Nov. 30, when their new leader will be elected and installed.

Sister Rosann speaks before a congregation at St. Bonaventure Church in Raeville. The Mass was part of a Jubilee celebration in 2023, celebrating 100 years of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters’ service in northeast Nebraska. SUSAN SZALEWSKI/STAFF

Before moving to Rome, Sister Rosann will be completing unfinished business and helping prepare her successor. She said she’ll also visit family and friends and complete doctor visits.

She stressed that her new role will not be one of just governance or legal administration but also one of spiritual leadership for the congregation.

“Our mission is to bring Christ to the world,” she said, to foster the synodality that Pope Francis is calling the Church to and to be leaders of hope as the Church enters a 2025 Jubilee Year with the theme of “Pilgrims of Hope.”

Her service will entail lots of travel as Sister Rosann visits her sisters around the world, encouraging them in their missionary endeavors and helping them build up their newer religious communities.

“If I can serve the sisters well, I’ll serve their ministries well,” Sister Rosann said, “because it’s just like if you support the mother of a family, you support the whole family.

“So this excites me,” she said, “that I’m being called to be a supporter … a spiritual support and guide for 1,200 sisters.”

“I don’t want to be just someone who is removed from them, someone who just hears the facts,” Sister Rosann said. “I really hope that I can have an ear for the sisters and their situations” and discern how to help them with mercy and compassion.

In Rome, community life and prayer will be similar to what Sister Rosann has experienced in Norfolk, except she will have to learn to pray communal prayers in Italian.

“That’s going to be, of course, a challenge,” she said, but she’ll have others there to help her.

Transitions typically have many challenges, Sister Roseann said.

“You are full force and engaged in one ministry, and then you’re asked to change,” she said. “It’s hard on the community because they’re adjusting to this big change. And, of course, there’s also the loss of a person in their community. So there’s lots of transitions.

“Even though we’re missionaries,” the difficulties and emotions “have to be honored,” she said. “Otherwise, if you become without feeling, then you’re just a robot. But these are real things that we have to go through. Even though we’ve committed to it, it’s still a process.”

Sister Rosann said she’s enjoyed serving the people of the Archdiocese of Omaha and being part of the local Church family.  “The support we felt from the archdiocese has been very important to us – to me and to all of us. And we’re grateful for that.”

She said it’s likely that she would return to her Norfolk community once her six years as prioress general concludes.

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