The Sisters of Christian Charity (S.C.C.), officially called Sisters of Christian Charity, Daughters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception,
/ref> 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 ...
papal congregation of consecrated 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 ...
. They were founded in Paderborn
Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
, Germany, on 21 August 1849 by Blessed
Blessed may refer to:
* The state of having received a blessing
* Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified
Film and television
* ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...
Pauline von Mallinckrodt (b. 3 June 1817, at Minden
Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...
, Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
; d. 30 April 1881), sister of the highly regarded German politician Hermann von Mallinckrodt Hermann von Mallinckrodt (5 February 1821, Minden – 26 May 1874) was a German parliamentarian from the Province of Westphalia.
His father, Detmar von Mallinckrodt, was vice-governor at Minden (1818–23) and also at Aachen (1823–29); and wa ...
. Their original mission was for the care of the blind. Today, their main mission is teaching in Catholic schools
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
and healthcare. Unlike some Religious Sisters, Sisters of Christian Charity are required to wear a traditional religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...
.
History
The institute had attained great success throughout Germany when, in 1873, its members were forced into exile by the persecution of the Kulturkampf. Some went to South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, where there are now many flourishing communities. Others emigrated to , United States, where, in April 1873, they founded a house and took charge of a parochial school. Mother Pauline followed shortly after and established a new provincial mother-house, at Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The congregation was confirmed on 7 February 1888 by Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
.[Rudge, F.M. "Sisters of Christian Charity." The Catholic Encyclopedia]
Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 20 May 2019
The foundress of the congregation, Pauline von Mallinckrodt, was beatified
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
in Rome on 14 April 1985.canonization
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...
of Blessed Pauline is currently being examined by the Vatican. The current Superior General
A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...
of the congregation is Sister Maria Del Rosario Castro, S.C.C.
The Sisters opened houses in the Archdioceses of Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, and Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
, and in the Dioceses of Albany, Belleville, Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
, Paterson, Sioux City
Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...
, and Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
.
In 1927, the North American Province was divided into a North American Eastern Province and a North American Western Province. The motherhouse for the Eastern province is located in Mendham, New Jersey, and the motherhouse of the Western province is located in Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
. In 1961, the Assumption College for Sisters was founded at the motherhouse in New Jersey, for the education of Religious Sisters, especially those from developing nations
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
.
In 1975 a group of members separated and founded the Sisters of the Living Word.
Apostolate
By 2010, Sisters of Christian Charity were present in Germany, Italy, the United States, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, and the Philippines.
The Sisters of Christian Charity sponsor Assumption College for Sisters
The Assumption College for Sisters is a private two-year Roman Catholic women's college formerly located in Mendham Borough, New Jersey. Founded in 1953 through an affiliation with nearby Seton Hall University, Assumption is run by the Sister ...
, a two-year 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 ...
women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
on the campus of Morris Catholic High School
Morris Catholic High School is a four-year comprehensive Roman Catholic regional high school located in Denville Township, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. It was founded in 1957 and is part of the Diocese of Paterson. Morris Cat ...
. Founded in 1953 through an affiliation with Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...
, Assumption specializes in theological studies and the 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 ...
. It is the last remaining sisters' college
A sisters' college is a college that primarily serves as a place for the education of future and current sisters and nuns. They are not to be confused with Catholic women's colleges, which are designed for general education programs and do not co ...
, or college primarily designed to educate nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
s, in the United States.[Westhoven, William]
"NJ’s smallest college moving to Denville"
''Daily Record (Morristown)
The ''Daily Record'' is a seven-day morning daily newspaper of the USA Today Network located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey.
The Daily Record serves the greater Morris County area of northern New Jersey, Essex County and the south-wester ...
'', November 3, 2014. Accessed June 4, 2018.
References
External links
Sisters of Christian CharitySisters of Christian Charity, Eastern ProvinceSisters of Christian Charity, Western Province
{{Authority control
Catholic female orders and societies
Religious organizations established in 1849
Catholic religious institutes established in the 19th century
1849 establishments in Prussia