The sisters in Italy belong to the Latin European Province (LEP).
The Houses with their Schools and Boarding Schools, which were part of the Italian Province, were founded on the idea of lay people sensitive to the educational needs of girls and were then entrusted to the CJ Sisters who, following in the footsteps of Mary Ward, carried out the educational work for the formation of girls with generosity, fidelity, competence and commitment.
In Rovereto, Lady Agnese Wangher Fait founded the School and Boarding School, which were entrusted to the sisters of the I.B.V.M. (the former name of the Congregatio Jesu) in 1782; in Lodi, the Boarding School founded and directed by Baroness Maria Hadfield Cosway, was entrusted to the I.B.V.M. sisters in 1812; in Vicenza, the School was opened and entrusted to the I.B.V.M. sisters in 1837 according to the wishes of Francis I, Emperor of Austria. In Merate in 1889 the sisters opened the School and Boarding School at the invitation of Bishop Federico Colombo.
From 2000 Rovereto and Merate handed over their Schools to the Dioceses, while in 2018 the Vicenza School was handed over to the “Mary Ward Foundation”, a non-profit parents’ foundation.
CJ community in Vicenza
The CJ sisters in Merate
© Annamaria Quinterio
The CJ community in Aosta
© Annamaria Quinterio
Sisters in Rovereto
The current Communities of Merate, Vicenza and Rovereto, which have been joined by the Community of the Romanian CJ Sisters in Aosta, as of 1 January 2021 are part of the Latin European Province (LEP), which brings together the two former Romanian and Italian CJ Provinces.
Their sisters currently work together
In 1723, the first CJ sisters came from Germany to Meran. Sixteen years later, a new foundation was started in Brixen. For Nearly 300 years the sisters took responsibility for schools and kindergartens, and they ran hostels for girl as the pupils came from the very remote villages in the Alps.
Today, the sisters in South Tyrol belong to the Middle European Province.
Rome holds a special place in the story of the Congregatio Jesu
Mary Ward herself lived in Rome on three occasions during her lifetime: 1621 – 1626, 1629 – 1630 and 1632 – 1637.
Her stays in Rome were characterised by deep faith, courage and determination as she sought recognition for her vision of a new form of religious life for women – one that was active, apostolic and rooted in the Ignatian spirit.
After her time, many of Mary Ward’s first companions also lived in Rome, except for Mary Poyntz, who resided in Augsburg between 1662 and 1667. Their presence continued the prayerful perseverance that shaped the early foundations of the congregation.
After the confirmation of the 81 Rules in 1703, the then Superior General Anna Barbara Babthorpe closed the foundation in Rome which, since Mary Ward’s time, had been situated near Santa Maria Maggiore. It was only in September 1897 that the “English Ladies” returned to Rome and opened a house on Via Nazionale and began teaching foreign languages and later opened a Primary School and a Kindergarten.
The house in Via Nomentana was founded in 1911. Until 1919 the foundation was a filiation of the English local house. In 1919, the community in Via Nomentana was established as a local house under the Munich-Nymphenburg Generalate.
In 1929 the General Chapter of the Nymphenburg Generalate was held and Giovanna Damascena Stegmüller, who had been superior of the Roman House, was elected as General Superior. The same general Chapter moved the seat of the Generalate from Munich to Rome in fulfilment of one of Mary Ward’s wishes, to have the centre of her Institute in Rome. At the 1953 General Chapter (Union chapter) the Generalates of Mainz and St Pölten were united with Rome-Nymphenburg, with M. Edelburga Sölzbacher as the first Superior General, and the house on Via Nomentana became the seat of the Generalate of the Roman branch of Mary Ward’s Institute.
At present the members of the General Leadership Team live in this Generalate house together with a small community of sisters serving the CJ. The house is also used for international meetings and to host sisters who participate in on-going formation programmes.
We are an international multicultural congregation of around 1,800 sisters present in more than 40 countries around the globe. Founded in 1609 by the Venerable Mary Ward, we are a group of unenclosed apostolic religious women, rooted in the Ignatian Spirituality.
We are working in different areas and projects – not out of ourselves, but because we allow ourselves to be sent by God. We form our sisters to be mobile and available, willing to go wherever they are sent. We expect them to strive, like Mary Ward, to have that inner freedom to respond to the call to leave all and follow Christ with passion and compassion.
“Vocation” – a word that tastes of MORE, of what Saint Ignatius of Loyola called “THE MAGIS”: Longing, meaning, fullness of life, a task and the experience of being needed. It sounds like someone who is calling me personally and with whom I can give my life a unique shape.
People all over the world are inspired and enthusiastic about Mary Ward and her way of following Jesus. There are different ways to join our network and become part of the wider Mary Ward Family.
Mary Ward once said: “I listened to God’s deep dream for me and felt a longing to respond.”
In this spirit, we invite you to pray with us. We offer a variety of prayers and material for reflection.
