Sisters of Charity Federation in the Vincentian-Setonian Tradition

[1] The Sisters of Charity Federation in the Vincentian-Setonian Tradition represents approximately 4,000 vowed members and 700 lay associates/affiliates from women religious congregations throughout North America.

[2] The purpose of the Federation is to facilitate collaboration in projects related to ministry and other areas of common concern.

On January 25, 1794, Elizabeth Ann Bayley married William Magee Seton in St. Paul's Church, New York.

Elizabeth and Anna Maria were accommodated by the families of her late husband's Italian business partners, the Filicchis.

Reverend Louis William Dubourg, S.S., met Elizabeth Bayley Seton about 1806 in New York and invited her to Baltimore to establish a small boarding school for girls near the Sulpician institution, Saint Mary’s College & Seminary.

In 1810, Bishop Flaget was commissioned by the community to obtain from France the rules of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

The winged appearance of the cornette would bring the sisters the affectionate nickname "God's geese" as they flew around a hospital in their prominent wimples.

The Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, Perfectae Caritatis, proclaimed on October 25, 1965, by Pope Paul VI stated that: "Independent institutes and monasteries should, when opportune and the Holy See permits, form federations if they can be considered as belonging to the same religious family.

At the 2004, annual meeting in New York, the Federation voted to continue to make water a focus for advocacy, while integrating it into their efforts to address structures that keep people poor around the world.