Father Pamfilo had come to the United States at the invitation of Bishop John Timon, C.M., of the Diocese of Buffalo, in order to provide education for the young Catholics of Western New York.
The Sisters opened St. Elizabeth Academy in the town of Allegany in 1860, followed soon by a parochial school at the Sparish of St. Francis of Assisi in Manhattan, staffed by the friars.
At that time, the Sisters held their first Chapter and elected Reverend Mother Mary Teresa O'Neil as the first Superior General of the congregation.
Pamfilo sent friars to New York City, where they opened St. Anthony's Church on Sullivan Street to serve the Italian and Irish immigrants.
Realizing they needed additional assistance, the friars called on the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and St. Anthony's School was opened in 1874.
On completion of her term of office as leader of the Allegany Franciscan congregation, Sister Regina Catherine Kane, herself, went to St. Clare's to assist patient with AIDS, a service the Hospital rendered until its closing in 2007.