Born in Saskatchewan, Donna Geernaert grew up in Vancouver, BC. She joined the Sisters of Charity of Halifax and earned her initial degree at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. Returning to Vancouver, she taught at the elementary school level for a few years. After completing post-graduate studies in Toronto, she taught at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint Joseph’s College in Edmonton, Alberta. In addition, she has taught courses at the University of Sudbury, University of British Columbia, and Saint Francis Xavier University.
Sister Donna holds a PhD in Theology from the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto. Her work as a theologian has focussed on several areas with emphases on contemporary Catholic theology and theology of religions.
Since August 2002, she has served as the Congregational Leader for the Sisters of Charity (Halifax) and is responsible for missions across Canada, the Eastern United States, Bermuda and Peru.
Prior to her current position, Sister Donna was on the staff of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) where her portfolios were Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, and Issues of Concern to Women. While at the CCCB, she served on a number of Canadian Council of Churches committees including its Governing Board and Commission on Faith and Witness which she chaired. She participated in several Canadian bilateral dialogues including Anglican/Roman Catholic, Lutheran/Roman Catholic, and Roman Catholic/United Church. In interfaith dialogue, she was involved in bilateral dialogues with the Canadian Jewish Congress and with representatives of the Council of Muslim Communities in Canada. She has worked with the Women’s Interchurch Council of Canada, and contributed to various WCC projects reflecting on issues of concern to women. She was involved in the editing and publishing of a
study kit on Women in the Church, a booklet of workshops on inclusive language, and a history of CCCB initiatives concerning women in church and society entitled, With Respect to Women.
At the international level, she attended meetings of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. In 1992, she was appointed to the Plenary Commission of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order and in this capacity attended the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order held in Santiago de Compostela in August 1993, as well as plenary assemblies in Moshi, Tanzania in August 1997 and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August 2004. She participated in consultations to produce a study guide, Towards Sharing the One Faith, and a book on questions of “episcope/episcopacy in the ecumenical movement”.
She also represented the CCCB on the North American Orthodox Roman Catholic Theological Consultation and was asked to serve as a consultant in the most recent round of dialogues between the Vatican and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. She assisted in facilitating the International Anglican and Roman Catholic Leaders’ Meeting held in Mississauga in May 2000, and continues to work with the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission set up by the Vatican and the Anglican Consultative Council to review worldwide relationships, consolidate dialogue results, and chart a course for the future.