Abbreviation | S.U.S.C. |
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Formation | 1842; 182 years ago (1842) |
Founder | Jean Baptiste Debrabant |
Type | Female Catholic religious congregation |
Headquarters | Rome, Italy |
Website | https://www.holyunionsisters.org |
The Holy Union Sisters, officially known as the Sisters of the Holy Union of the Sacred Hearts (French: Soeurs de la Sainte Union des Sacrés Coeurs), are a religious congregation of women in the Roman Catholic Church founded at Douai, France, in 1842, by Jean Baptiste Debrabant (1801 - 1889).[1]
The congregation has its roots, beginning in 1828, with four young women who earned their livelihood as lacemakers, but shared a strong religious faith. In the chaotic social situation of post-Revolutionary France, they were committed to teaching the faith to the local children. They soon decided to live together to support one another in their commitment. Later, the young priest, Jean Baptiste Debrabant was sent as pastor to to their town.
Impressed by this small community of dedicated women, which had continued to draw many young women to join the original four, Debrabant saw in them a vehicle to help educate the children of the region. He approached his bishop, the Archbishop of Cambrai, seeking recognition of the women as a religious congregation. Permission was received and in 1842 one hundred woman were admitted to a canonical noviatiate as an Institute of diocesan right. The new congregation was then given its current name and a Rule of Life based primarily on that of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, founded by Francis of Sales and Louise de Marilliac. The Sisters professed religious vows a year later.
The congregation quickly spread in answer to appeals for teachers in Catholic schools worldwide. They came to administer schools in Belgium, England, Ireland and the United States.
The congregation was approved by the Holy See and was elevated to one of pontifical right in 1877.
Today the Sisters also serve in Italy, Kenya and Tanzania. A new foundation has been established in Burundi.
The Sisters devote themselves to the education of youth and have founded schools in multiple countries. Some of these schools are still run by the Sisters today.
Date founded | School | Location |
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1858 | Saint Gregory's Catholic College | Bath, England[2] |
1861 | La Sainte Union Catholic School | Highgate, England[3] |
1863 | Banagher College | Banagher, Ireland[4] |
1887 | Sacred Heart School | Fall River, United States[5] |
1899 | Grays Convent High School | Grays Thurrock, England[6] |
1904 | St Anne’s Catholic School | Southampton, England[7] |
1905 | Sacred Heart School | Lawrence, MA, United States[8][9] |
1923 | St. Mary-Sacred Heart School | North Attleborough, MA, United States[10] |
1947 | Sacred Heart School | Mount Ephraim, NJ, United States[11] |
1949 | Country Day School of the Holy Union | Groton, MA, United States[12] |
1953 | St Catherine’s Catholic School | Bexleyheath, England[13] |
1956 | Holy Cross Catholic Primary School | South Ockendon, England[14] |
1959 | Holy Name School | Fall River, MA, United States[15] |
2008 | Debrabant Secondary School | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania[16] |
2018 | Holy Union Primary School | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania[16] |
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