Sisters of Loreto
Although education was its primary work, today the congregation is engaged in a wide variety of ministries: literacy programmes, spiritual direction, counselling, managing shelters for homeless women as well as several aspects of the movement for greater justice and peace in the world.
[2] She envisioned women living a life in companionship and discernment, inspired by the Gospel and engaging with the world without the constraints of the traditional cloister, nor an established 'rule' placing them under the governance of the local bishop.
These ideas contradicted the norms established by the Council of Trent and presented great difficulty for the leadership of the Church of that period.
[4] On the suppression of Mary Ward's first congregation, styled by its opponents the "Jesuitesses", a greater number of the members returned to the world or entered other religious orders.
A certain number, however, who desired still to live in religion under the guidance of Ward, were sheltered with the permission of Pope Urban VIII in the Paradeiser Haus, Munich, by the Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian I.
[6] Some of the younger members were transferred at the pope's desire to Rome, there to live with Mary Ward and be trained by her in the religious life.
[5] In 1639, with letters of introduction from Pope Urban to Queen Henrietta Maria, Mary returned to England and established herself in London.
[10] Suspected of harboring Catholic priests, both houses experienced frequent harassment by local magistrates.
[11] One of the sisters of the Bar Convent was Mother Mary Loyola, an internationally bestselling author of Catholic books.
At the invitation of Bishop Michael Power of Toronto, five Loreto Sisters under Mother Teresa Ellen Dease arrived in the city in 1847 and founded their first school.
The 19th century saw the establishment of Loreto schools and colleges in India which became some of the most highly regarded places of education for women.
[6] The Roman Branch received permission from the Vatican to change its name, to reflect more closely Mary Ward's vision of a Jesuit order for women.
The South African Province has apostolates in Pretoria, Witbank and Cape Town all of which focus on marginalised women; the Sisters also have a mission in Zambia which was established in 2006.
The Sisters of the Australian Province work in Aboriginal welfare, rural communities and care for the aged as well as having outreach in Vietnam and East Timor.
In North America, the Sisters have communities in Texas, California, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and throughout Canada.
