The Religious of Christian Education is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrate ...

religious sisters A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pra ...

founded for the education of girls in post-

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

France which now operates schools internationally.

Foundation

The Sisters were established by the

Abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for lowe ...

Louis Lafosse (1772–1839) and four young women, led by Mother Marie-Anne Dutertre, on 21 November 1817 in

Échauffour Échauffour () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. Geography The commune is on the borders of the country of Ouche and the campaign of Alençon. Its village is 4.5 km northwest of Sainte-Gauburge-Sainte-Colombe, 9&n ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. Lafosse's vision, born from the destruction of the period of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, was to provide the girls of the region a solid education, which was both humane and Christian."Sœurs de l’Education Chrétienne"
Séez Diocese The

Bishop of Séez A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, Alexis Saussol, formally approved the congregation in 1821. The Sisters quickly established communities throughout Normandy and the neighbouring regions of France and Belgium.

Expansion

The

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

laws passed in France in 1880 and again in 1904 led the Sisters to establish new foundations outside of the French-speaking world. They established a community in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1889, and one in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in the United States, in 1905. They later opened a number of communities in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, where they served the children of

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

immigrants. They formerly ran two private secondary schools for girls in Massachusetts: Marycliff Academy in Arlington, then Winchester; and Jeanne D'Arc Academy in Milton, MA.

North Carolina

In December 1907, five women professed with the Religious of Christian Education moved into a house in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

at 48 Starnes Avenue. They established the Hillside Convent School in their home by 6 January 1908. By September 1908, they operated the school in two houses on North Main Street (now Broadway) and had an enrollment of 80 students, six of whom were boarding students.Remembering Catholic schools of yesteryear
Catholic News Herald, 2012-12-19. In 1910, the school was moved to the former Victoria Inn on Victoria Road in Asheville and renamed St. Genevieve-of-the-Pines. Classes at the new campus started in January 1911. Initially, it was both a day school for boys and girls aged 6–13, and a boarding school for girls aged 14–18. St. Genevieve's College was added in 1912, offering a two-year course in French as well as a four-year

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

curriculum. In 1930, the school developed into a two-year college named St. Genevieve's Junior College, which operated until 1955, when it became the School for Secretaries. The boys from the day school moved into a separate building in 1949, which became the Gibbons Hall School for Boys. At its height, the campus covered over 35 acres. The Religious of Christian Education ceased operating the schools in 1971 due to a shortage of vocations and the age and poor health of the Sisters. With the help of parents, the two schools merged to form St. Genevieve/Gibbons Hall School, an independent day school for both boys and girls, offering classes from kindergarten through the ninth grade, with some of the Sisters remaining as teachers. To combat rising costs and declining enrollments at both schools, the school merged in 1987 with the Asheville Country Day School, at which time the Sisters withdrew from it. The St. Genevieve campus was sold to the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, and a new school, the

Carolina Day School Carolina Day School is an independent, co-ed, college preparatory school serving grades pre-K through 12. The school is in the historic Biltmore Forest neighborhood of Asheville, North Carolina. It consists of a lower, middle, and upper school. ...

, was established on the Asheville Country Day School campus.

Africa and Ireland

The Sisters established a school in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

, Morocco, in 1941. They opened a mission in the then-

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

colony of

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a region ...

(now the Republic of Benin) in 1958, which lasted until 2010. Two schools were opened in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the early 1950s. They also founded a school in Farnborough, Hampshire in 1889 called Hillside. In 1920 they moved to their present site at Farnborough Hill.

Today

After nearly 200 years of operation, the original

motherhouse A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute. It would normally be where the residence and offices of the religious superior In a hierarchy or tree structure of any kind, a superior is an individual or position at ...

of the congregation in Échauffour was closed in June 2011. This was due to the declining numbers of Sisters and the advanced age of most of them. The school they had operated from the time of their founding had already been closed in 1977.Les Soeurs de l’Education Chrétienne ont quitté Echauffour!
Séez Diocese

References

Bibliography

*Flament (Pierre), ''L'abbé Lafosse, fondateur de l'Éducation chrétienne, 1772-1839'', Éducation chrétienne, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, s.d. (1962).