Sisters of St. Joseph - United States

United States

The Sisters aspire to "a profound love of God and the dear neighbor", and love and work so that all may be one.

The Sisters' mission statement: "As Sisters of St. Joseph, our mission is that of the church: to continue the mission of Jesus given Him by His Father. It is our responsibility, both as congregation and as individuals within the church, to share the task of identifying and responding to spiritual and material needs...the expression of these needs varies with the times, cultures, and condition of persons. The congregation sends its member in the name of the church to share in building Christ's kingdom of justice, love, and peace through our charism of unity and reconciliation."

Because of the rapid growth of the institute and the increasing demand for sisters from all parts of the United States, the superiors of the community were by 1860 forced to consider means best adapted to give stability and uniformity to the growing congregation. A general chapter was convoked in May 1860, to which representatives from every house of the congregation in America were called.

At this meeting a plan for uniting all the communities under a general government was discussed and accepted by the sisters and afterwards by many of the bishops in whose dioceses the sisters were engaged. This plan, together with the constitutions, revised so as to meet the requirements of the new condition, was presented to the Holy See for approval. In September 1863, Pope Pius IX issued the letter of commendation of the institute and its works, holding the constitutions for examination and revision by the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars.

During the Civil War the order sent nuns to serve as Army nurses. The Protestant head of Army nurses Dorothea Dix distrusted them; her anti-Catholicism undermined her ability to work with Irish and German sisters, whom she ridiculed as robotic and unfeeling.

The first decree of approbation was granted June 7, 1867, and ten years later, May 16, 1877, a decree approving the institute and constitutions was issued by the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars. On July 31, 1877, Pius IX, by special Brief, confirmed the institute and constitutions of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Thus, with the sanction of the Church came the unification of communities in various dioceses with the mother-house at Carondelet, now in the city of St. Louis.

The congregation in 1910 divided into four provinces: St. Louis, Missouri; St. Paul, Minnesota; Troy, New York; Los Angeles, California. The St. Louis province comprises the houses of the congregation in the Archdioceses of St. Louis and Chicago and the Dioceses of St. Joseph, Kansas, Indianapolis, Peoria, Belleville, Alton, Denver, Marquette, Green Bay, Mobile, and Diocese of Oklahoma. The province of St. Paul includes the Archdiocese of St. Paul and the Diocese of Winona and Fargo.

The congregation was made up of 1802 sisters, in charge of 125 educational institutions, including colleges, academies, conservatories of music and art, and parochial schools, with an attendance of 40,848; 17 charitable educational institutions, including orphan asylums, Indian, Coloured, and deaf-mute schools, with an attendance of 2121; and 10 hospitals, with an average of 8285 patients.

The province of Troy is formed of the houses established in the Dioceses of Albany and Syracuse, New York. The province of Los Angeles comprises the houses of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the Diocese of Tucson and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The superior general and four general councillors, elected every six years by the whole congregation, form the general governing body, assisted by a superior provincial and four provincial councillors in each province. The provincial officers are appointed by the general officers every three years, as also are the local superiors of all the provinces.

In each provincial house, as in the mother-house, a novitiate is established. The term, of postulantship extends from three to Six months, the term of novitiate two years, after which annual vows are taken for a period of five years, when perpetual vows are taken. All are received on the same footing, all enjoy the same privileges, and all are subject to the same obedience which assigns duties according to ability, talent, and aptitude.

Although an interchange of members of the various provinces is allowed and made use of for general or particular needs, the autonomy of each province is safeguarded. The constitutions, while establishing on a solid basis the idea of a general government, allow no small share of local initiative and carefully provide for local needs. In this way too much centralization or peril to establishments working in accordance with local and special exigencies is fully guarded against.

The Sisters are known for their work in education and health care, and their activism in opposing the death penalty— ( see Sister Helen Prejean).