Missionary Franciscan Sisters celebrate significant milestone: 150 years

By Sister Helene Byrne Contributing writer

The Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception are this year celebrating the 150th anniversary of their founding. We have been blessed to minister to God’s people on five continents including many dioceses throughout the United States, the Diocese of Syracuse among them. The mission is to spread the Gospel message of love in the Franciscan tradition of St. Francis and St. Clare to those most in need. The Sisters, in their outreach to the people, shared their charism with its special emphasis on peacemaking, hospitality and compassion. Their presence fostered welcoming and inclusive communities, with solidarity in service to and with the poor as their guiding star.

The order was founded by Mother Mary Ignatius Hayes, a convert to Catholicism, in 1873. She established the first house of the Institute in a log cabin in Belle Prairie, Minn., with an immediate aim to open a school to address an obvious need in a far-flung outpost of largely French-Canadian settlers. Her ability to inspire this rural community resulted in the school opening a few months after her arrival. That marked the beginning of a focus on formal education by the order up to the time of Vatican II. The early Sisters were heroic women who believed in going the extra mile, even at great personal cost. Following Vatican II, while education continued to be a focus, many Sisters felt called to respond to other challenges needing attention including pastoral work, social work and catechesis.

The ministry of the Missionary Franciscan Sisters in the Diocese of Syracuse had a unique beginning. The Diocese, in its infancy, covered a large area. Cities such as Syracuse attracted a steady stream of immigrants, many of Italian heritage. Fortunately, lay initiatives enabled the Church to cope with the influx and the shortage of priests. A group of Catholic women organized themselves into the Saint Anthony Society to tend to the spiritual and educational needs of these families living near St. Peter’s Church, then the primary Italian parish, on the city’s Northside. The women petitioned Bishop John Grimes to find Sisters who would assume the duties of teaching the faith and be responsible for supporting this immigrant community in its many needs.

In 1919, four Missionary Franciscan Sisters were assigned to this ministry, two of whom spoke fluent Italian. Others were added later. The Sisters not only provided religious instruction but also facilitated classes in general housekeeping, cooking, sewing and millinery. The Sisters also did considerable home visiting in the neighborhood.

The Church and the ministry of the Missionary Franciscan Sisters continued to grow. St. Cecilia’s Catechetical Center, Solvay, established in 1940, prospered from the outset. St. Charles Borromeo Center in Syracuse opened in 1943. The Sisters also ministered at Assumption School of Religious Education in Binghamton beginning in 1941 serving several parishes in the Binghamton area. St. Michael’s Catechetical Center on Onondaga Hill opened in 1961.

These very effective catechetical centers were the forerunners of dynamic Catholic schools which evolved from them and were blessed from their inception with the cooperative and family-centered charisma of the catechetical centers. Graduates of these schools have enriched the greater Syracuse area and beyond.

In more recent times, the Sisters served the Diocese as hospital chaplains, pastoral associates, social workers for at-risk students in public schools, faith formation, spiritual direction and hospital and nursing home visitation.

Today, the Sisters remain a Franciscan presence in the areas in which they live.

As we begin the 150th Anniversary Celebration, we want to thank everyone for the truly blessed experience of ministering among you. Our wishes are best expressed by the touching words of St. Paul: I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you (Philippians 1:3).

Happy Birthday Bishop Cunningham!

Thanks for your years of service to Christ & His Church. The students & faculty of the Catholic Schools of Broome County.

Tracy Caezza, President