“We will no longer work toward finding nor accepting new members to our Congregation, in the United States.”

A sad and sobering moment for the order. The press release: 

After a long and prayerful discernment process leading up to The Sisters of Charity of New York’s 2023 General Assembly, delegates voted unanimously on April 13, 2023 to accept the following recommendations from our Congregation’s Executive Council:

  • The Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York will no longer work toward finding nor accepting new members to our Congregation, in the United States. However, because we believe in the future of religious life, we will continue to promote vocations, and redirect inquiries to Federation congregations and/or to the Religious Formation Conference.
  • The Council asks the Assembly to affirm that we, Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York, continue to live our mission to the fullest, while acknowledging that we are on a path to completion.

The decision was not an easy one.  Currently there are 154 Sisters of Charity of New York. We will continue to grow in love.  We will continue to deepen our relationships with each other, with our Associates and with our ministry partners. We will continue to deepen our relationship with our God.

After more than 200 years of service for the Church, the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York will continue to pass the torch of charity. This is not the end of our ministries. Our mission will continue beyond our Sisters, through our Associates and partners in ministry, expanding what it means to live the charism of charity into the future.

This is the order, of course, founded by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Maryland, but their work has stretched far beyond that and touched countless lives. As their website notes:

The story of the Sisters of Charity in North America began over 200 years ago in Emmitsburg, Md., with a small band of women under the leadership of Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton. Our story in New York goes back almost that far. It is a story of thousands of lives serving God’s poor, a story of tough love and high standards, a story of caring and compassion. It is a story of needs met, difficulties faced, challenges overcome, societies changed—mostly, with little or no resources. It is a story of the marvelous mission of Charity—and with you, our partners in ministry, the story continues.

Read their history.

And hold them up in prayer, thanking God for the tremendous gifts they have offered the world.