Rooted and Reaching, Part Three: The Teaching Ministry of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville from 1965–1975, Changing Seasons

Continued from page 11

In a letter dated October 27, 1969, to the community regarding the “A Vision of Things to Come” conference, Sister Clarita Felhoelter stated that, “During this conference, we feel those who employ our services can tell us what the needs are, and we can inform them about our resources and the degree to which we can supply education in those areas.”

At the time of the conference, the Ursulines were staffing parochial elementary and secondary schools in Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia. The community owned and staffed one elementary and three secondary schools in Louisville and Ursuline Academy in Pittsburgh. It also operated a Montessori school, a music school, a speech and hearing clinic, a school for special education on the Ursuline campus, and St. Joseph Orphanage, as well as a mission school in Peru.

Also in 1970, there were ten Ursulines teaching at Bellarmine-

Ursuline College, and three others were faculty members at private colleges out-of-state. Ursulines had recently entered the areas of religious education, early childhood education and adult education due to the renewals of Vatican II, which included “broadening its interpretation of its fourth vow to encompass apostolates in many other aspects of the education of both men and women.”10

Other milestones during this time included December 27, 1972, which marked seventy-five years of education ministry to St. Joseph Children’s Home since the Ursulines started there in 1897. Altogether, over 150 Ursulines served at the home until 2010, when Sister Loretta Guenther retired.

In 1974, Msgr. Pitt Learning Center for children with special needs celebrated its 25th anniversary. It was started as The Opportunity Class by Monsingor Felix N. Pitt in 1949, and the Ursulines had been teaching there since 1951. Sister Regina Marie

Footnotes are on page 14. Special thanks to Laurel Wilson, archivist for assistance with this article.

Bevelacqua was director of the school from 1967 to 1983, succeeding Sister Mary Vincent Strittmatter.

Also in 1974, the Steering Committee recommended to the Chapter that a Task Force be appointed to study St. Angela Merici, foundress of the Ursulines. This led to the creation of The Ursuline Credo, which contains the expression of the charism of St. Angela and the Ursulines. It is a statement of the Ursulines’ belief in the call they share as a result of the love and influence of the Holy Spirit.11

In 1975, the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville stood on the threshold of uncertainty and change, viewing the past with pride, the present with reality and the future with vision and hope; taking heed of the words of Saint Angela: “If, according to times and circumstances, the need arises to make new rules or to do something differently, do it prudently and with good advice.” (Last Legacy)