The Franciscan Sisters of Peace

The Franciscan Sisters of Peace trace our origin to three pioneer Sisters: Gertrude Paul, Constanza Huber and Pellegrina Santelamezza, who were members of the Tertiary Franciscans for the Apostolic Missions, established in 1861 in Gemona, Italy. In 1865 these three Sisters were sent to St. Francis Parish in New York City to minister to German speaking immigrants in the area.

The pioneering spirit of these young women of faith, zeal and vision quickly attracted vocations and gave impetus to a variety of ministries offered by the fledgling community to meet the needs of the church in the US in the latter half of the 19th century. The ministries of the sisters, supported by a steady influx of vocations from the US, grew rapidly, and within a short time the sisters were serving the Church in several different dioceses, meeting a variety of needs. The Sisters became well known for their human warmth and Franciscan approach to life and to ministry, gaining the respect of the clergy and the people.  The development of the congregation in this country was well ahead of its European counterpart; seventeen convents were established in this country before a second convent was established in Europe.

In 1890, the sisters in the US became the Saint Francis Province with its center located in Peekskill, NY, on property purchased by the sisters in 1869.  The congregation came to be known as the Third Order of Saint Francis, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and received definitive Church approval of their official rule, called Constitutions, in 1905.  After being  amended in 1933 to conform to the needs of the times, the Constitutions remained substantially the same until after Vatican Council II which ended in 1965.  One of the documents of the Vatican Council, Ecclesiae Sanctae, decreed that all religious congregations were to hold meetings of their members, called Chapters, in order to review their Constitutions and make adjustments necessary to update them.  Pope John XXIII used the term “aggiornamento” to convey the kind of internal spiritual renewal necessary, as well as the external adaptation of rules needed to meet changing times.

Consequently a Special Chapter of Aggiornamento for the congregation was held at the Generalate in Rome in 1969.   Beginning with the intense preparation for the 1969 Chapter, the sisters of the St. Francis Province, imbued with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, endeavored to respond to the Church’s mandate to update and renew.  Thus, hearing and responding to the Church’s universal call to holiness, the St. Francis Province was greatly influenced by Vatican II.  The sisters, rooting their lives more deeply in Jesus Christ and the Gospel, were not only enriched themselves by Vatican II, but they also helped to enrich the local Church with the grace and blessings of the Council.

Permission was given in the revised Constitutions to conduct Chapters within a Province. The sisters in the St. Francis Province held Provincial Chapters every three years from 1971 through 1980. The sisters felt that the lived experience of their charism, spirit and identity had not been fully captured in the revised Constitutions, so the Chapters provided the opportunity to rediscover and articulate these valued expressions of their lives.  An awareness slowly evolved that, for a very significant number of sisters, their identity as a religious institute was distinct from that of the larger congregation.  Through the discernment of prayer, reflection, study and dialogue, it became clear to these sisters that their roots, charism and identity as a community of religious were found in the pioneering spirit, faith and trust in Divine Providence of Sisters Gertrude, Constanza and Pellegrina.  These sisters brought peace to others through their works of mercy and justice. 

The conviction of the sisters in the St. Francis Province regarding their unique identity as a religious community led in 1982 to the initiation of a process for the establishment of a new diocesan institute in the Church, the Franciscan Sisters of Peace, with its Generalate in the Archdiocese of New York.  The decree formally establishing the new congregation was signed by John Cardinal O’Connor Archbishop of New York, on October 4,1986.  On November 29, 1986, with peace and joy, one hundred twelve vowed women in the presence of many of their associates in ministry, relatives, friends, other religious and several clergy, celebrated the establishment of the new congregation by renewing their vows as Franciscan Sisters of Peace at a Eucharistic Liturgy in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City, with John Cardinal O’Connor presiding.

Thus, having claimed our identity as God-given, fashioned by His Spirit to meet needs of the local Church, the Franciscan Sisters of Peace endeavor to serve God through our mission to proclaim and live the gospel of Jesus Christ in the footsteps of Saint Francis and our charism of peacemaking.