Pallottine Missionary Sisters
PALLOTTINE MISSIONARY SISTERS
(SAC, Official Catholic Directory# 3150); a congregation founded in Rome, Italy, in 1843, by St. Vincent pallotti, to care for children, especially orphans. When, in 1890, the Pallottine Fathers began a mission in the German colony in the Cameroons, Africa, the help of sisters also was required. Since the Italian sisters were not interested in mission work, it was decided to invite candidates from Germany to enter the novitiate in Rome. Those who answered this call were trained there and sent to Africa. When it became evident that the Pallottine Missionary Sisters should have their own motherhouse in Germany, a plan that was realized in 1895, a new branch of the Pallottine family came into existence. From Limburg, Germany, these sisters spread to England, Switzerland, Central America, Poland, South Africa, and in 1912 to the U.S. In the U.S., the sisters engage in education, catechetics, healthcare, daycare, retreats, counseling, parish ministries, pastoral and social outreach. When papal approval was granted to the congregation in 1964, its official title was established as Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate. The generalate is in Rome. The U.S. provincialate is in Florissant, Mo.
[m. b. kurth/eds.]