Recollections, stories of everyday life, interweaving of experiences, of memories...:
Recounting events from the past helps us to walk in the vitality of history in continuous evolution. It is in history where we discover the roots that infuse us with the lifeblood to live the present, encouraging us to look toward the future with hope and confidence.
Today we create a “remembrance” of the history of our Religious Family through a series of publications, in accordance with the Congregational Pastoral Plan, which has invited us to “witness our healing charism in harmony with our cultures by celebrating our history.”
We want to relive the highlights in order to savor the energy and enthusiasm lived by Mother Frances and the Sisters and Associates who came before us. In communion with them we want to “embrace change at all stages in our lives as opportunities for spiritual healing among us and within ourselves.”
We hope that these publications may give us the energy and passion to live our healing charism with enthusiasm and creativity, while we live as Apostles of the Resurrection in our present history and in the Community of Life.
In 2019 the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Blessed Frances Schervier, foundress of the Congregation, born on January 3, 1819. A special year, called the “Year of Healing” is announced...
In March 2017, the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor announces the celebration of the 15th General Chapter in Aachen, Germany. In giving the announcement, Sr. Licia Mazzia, Congregational Minister...
During the 2013 General Chapter, the outgoing Leadership Team recommended relocating the General House from Brooklyn, New York to Rome, Italy. The number of Sisters in the US area, once the most populous geographic...
In 2007 Bishop John Du of the Diocese of Dumaguete City invites the Congregation to establish a healing mission in the Philippines. Dumaguete City is the capital of Negros Oriental province. There is a lack of support and social services...
In 1968 the Congregation had 480 Perpetually Professed members: 410 in the United States; 25 in Brazil; and 45 in Italy. By December 2000, there are 186 Sisters in the Congregation, fewer than half the number thirty years before...
Since the 1990s the presence of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor has taken on new features in the US, Italy, Brazil, and Senegal, through the development of new ministries that meet the evolving needs of different social contexts...
In the years after the Renewal Chapter of 1968 the Congregation moved from a hierarchical style of leadership, where most decision-making was done by the Superior General and Council, to a model where decisions were made with the input...
During the General Chapter of 1980, in the wake of the Leadership Team’s proposal, the Congregation wishes to respond to some requests submitted by lay women and men linked to the Charism of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor. Thus it is ...
