The Adorers of the Blood of Christ ( la, Sorores Adoratrices Pretiossimi Sanguinis) are a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

centralized religious institute of consecrated life of Pontifical Right for women founded by

Maria De Mattias Maria Matilda De Mattias (February 4, 1805 – August 20, 1866) is a saint from Italy in the Roman Catholic Church and was the founder of the religious congregation of the Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ. Background Maria was born into a ...

in 1834. Their post-nominal letters are ASC. The institute operates the Newman University in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

History

The Institute of the Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ was established by Maria De Mattias, on March 4, 1834, in

Acuto Acuto (local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about east of Rome and about northwest of Frosinone on a ridge of the Monti Ernici. Acuto borders the following municipa ...

, Italy. She founded it as an active apostolic teaching community,"Maria De Mattias", Vatican News Service
/ref> and opened a school for girls. Before long she was joined by others and schools were opened in the small towns of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

and the Kingdom of Naples. On May 30, 1855, Pope Pius IX issued a “decree of praise” approving their work. In 1866, Maria De Mattias died in Rome of tuberculosis. By then sixty-four schools had been opened, including one in London."Our History", Adorers of the Precious Blood of Christ
/ref> In 1875, sisters from Italy established a house in

Ruma, Illinois Ruma is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. The population was 317 at the 2010 census. Geography Ruma is located at (38.133512, -89.998497). According to the 2010 census, Ruma has a total area of , all land. Demographics A ...

and a second in 1902 in

. Sisters from both Wichita and Ruma served the Catholic school in

Rulo, Nebraska Rulo is a village in Richardson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 144 at the 2020 census. History Rulo was laid out in 1857. It was named for Charlie Rouleau, the original owner of the town site. In 1933, the foundation for ...

. In 1933, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ founded Sacred Heart Junior College in Wichita which eventually became Newman University. In March 2014, the order donated 2.5 million dollars to the university. The gift will be used to support emerging science initiatives on the Newman campus. In October 1992, Sisters Barbara Ann Muttra, Mary Joel Kolmer, Kathleen McGuire, Agnes Mueller, and Shirley Kolmer were killed by soldiers during a civil war in Liberia. On January 24, 2008, Morris Padmore, a former combatant of the defunct National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) warring faction testified at the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...

that the nuns were raped and executed under the command of former NPFL general Christopher Vambo. The Adorers of the Blood of Christ were in Liberia since 1971.

Present day

In July 2017, in

Columbia, Pennsylvania Columbia, formerly Wright's Ferry, is a borough (town) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,222. It is southeast of Harrisburg, on the east (left) bank of the Susquehanna River, ac ...

, the Sisters went to court to oppose the construction of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline on a right-of-way through their land. In September, a district court judge dismissed the Adorers' complaint. An "open-air" chapel was built in the middle of a corn field to protest the pipeline by erecting a place protected by the freedom of religion in the path of the pipeline to block its construction. A

Williams Companies The Williams Companies, Inc., is an American energy company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its core business is natural gas processing and transportation, with additional petroleum and electricity generation assets. A Fortune 500 company, its commo ...

spokesman stated: "We find it ironic that the Adorers would challenge the value of natural gas infrastructure in the lawsuit, while at the same time promoting the availability and use of natural gas at their St. Anne's Retirement Community."Pennsylvania nuns sue federal agency over natural gas pipeline
by Marie Cusick August 3, 2017 As of 2019, there were about 1,178 members. The motherhouse is in Rome.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Religious organizations established in 1834 Catholic religious institutes established in the 19th century Societies of apostolic life 1834 establishments in Italy

History

Present day

See also

References

Further reading

External links