Education

The 1960s and 1970s saw many changes which would affect and challenge the educational ministry of the Sisters of Charity. These included the effect of the Second Vatican Council on religious life, a decreasing number of women entering religious congregations, the emergence of an increasingly well-educated laity who began teaching in Catholic schools and government funding.

Gradually the Sisters relinquish the principalships in our primary and secondary schools and colleges to lay colleagues and the Sisters moved into many and varied other educational ministries.

With great trust in Divine Providence and much work on the part of the leadership of our Congregation, a new sponsorship structure, Mary Aikenhead Ministries, “an approved public juridic person of pontifical right to operate in the name of the Church” is now responsible for the governance and leadership of our educational and also health institutions.

Today, the Sisters have moved from institutional educational ministries to individual ones.

This means greater freedom in finding the most suitable niche within the whole range of educational openings.

This includes teaching English to refugees, teaching in universities and theological colleges, taking classes for students who need extra educational support, working in schools/colleges in spirituality and pastoral care and as parent support in schools, especially where the students have high learning needs.

All work is motivated by our congregational charism of Service of the Poor and our motto – “The Love of Christ urges us on.”

To read more of the early work of the Sisters of Charity in Education, click here.