Congregation of Our Lady of Sion

One is composed of priests and religious brothers, founded in 1852, and the other is composed of religious sisters, founded in 1843, both by Marie-Théodore Ratisbonne, along with his brother Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne, "to witness in the Church and in the world that God continues to be faithful in his love for the Jewish people and to hasten the fulfillment of the promises concerning the Jews and the Gentiles".

Both brothers believed that this was a sign from God, not only for Alphonse's personal conversion, but of their common call to bring their fellow Jews to accept the Christian faith.

In 1850, with the permission of the pope and of the Jesuit Superior General, Alphonse left the Society to join his brother and his work.

[1] In 1855 Alphonse moved to the Holy Land, where, in 1858, he established the Convent of the Ecce homo on the site of a ruined church of that name on the famed Via Dolorosa for the Sisters of the congregation.

[2] In 1874, Alphonse began the construction of the Ratisbonne Monastery, on a site then on the outskirts of Jerusalem, which was a school for boys.

[1] Like the Fathers, the sisters no longer emphasise conversion, but instead describe themselves as working to improve Catholic-Jewish relations and to witness to God's faithful love for the Jewish people.