Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada

About Us

Seeing the whole world as our neighbourhood, we desire to collaborate with others in creating a world with inclusive love at its core.

We, the Sisters of St. Joseph, centre our lives on relationship. We care deeply about our relationship with God and, through this relationship, we have been led to the awareness that all is in God and God is in all.

We believe that coming together in community helps us to find our way forward and to open ourselves to “becoming the change we seek in the world.”

Charism

As we share life together in our earth community, we live in a manner which respects all being as sacred.

In our everyday choices and actions, personally and collectively, our conscious desire to “become the change we seek” moves us towards transformation, towards the well-being of all the earth community. We believe that transformation comes from changes made at the root of unjust systems.

History

The Sisters of St. Joseph began in Le Puy, France in 1650 when Father Jean Pierre Médaille S.J. gathered six courageous women together to form a community who would offer their lives to minister to the neediest in their area. They were the first women religious to live and work among the people doing “any work of which women are capable” just as Father Médaille had envisioned. These women cared for the sick, the aged, the orphans, and the imprisoned; they instructed young girls, guided devout women in their faith, and worked tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of the poor.

On November 22, 2012, a new chapter was opened in the long history of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Four of the six Canadian Congregations – Hamilton, London, Peterborough and Pembroke – joined together to become one new congregation, the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada.

In this 21st century, we the Sisters of St. Joseph can be found worldwide in over 54 countries.