SISTERS OF CHARITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (BVM)

Being written

SISTERS OF CHARITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (BVM). The order was founded in 1833 by Sister Mary Frances CLARKE and Father Terrence Donaghoe and was noted for promoting women in leadership roles and education. The first sisters to come to the ARCHDIOCESE OF DUBUQUE, the Sisters of Charity arrived in June 1843. Originally brought to the city to teach Native Americans, the Sisters one month later opened St. Mary's Female Academy to teach the children of the miners and shopkeepers. (1) This commitment to education eventually led to the BVMs opening 59 schools in the Archdiocese of Dubuque. (2) The sisters later moved to St. Joseph's Prairie near Key West and founded their motherhouse. The order continued to grow and provided teachers for communities throughout the Midwest.

Disaster struck the order on May 1849, when fire destroyed all the buildings around their motherhouse. All personal belongings were lost, and for a time the sisters had to accept clothing from friendly neighbors. The Mount Carmel motherhouse was started when 110 acres of pasture land was purchased by attorney William J. KNIGHT at the southern end of Grandview Avenue from Frank D. STOUT who had used the area as pasture for his race horses. First occupied in 1893, the motherhouse has been expanded to include an infirmary (1906), Marian Hall infirmary (1955), and Generalate (1963).

Announcement was made in 1866 that the Sisters of Charity would opened a school for girls on September 3. Piano, guitar and harp were being taught and "all branches of education qualifying young ladies for any position in public or in private life."

With the death of Terence Donaghoe in 1860, Mary Frances Clarke had the congregation incorporated and started the process of receiving papal approval. Pope Pius IX issued the Decree of Approbation in 1877 approving the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) for six years. The Vatican gave final approval of the congregation's constitutions on March 15, 1885. The BVM sisters at that time asked that Clarke be allowed to remain the Superior General for life. That decision the Vatican left to the bishop of Dubuque who approved.

The BVM congregation continued its strong commitment to education. The first school in Dubuque grew into ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY and later expanded in Mt. St. Joseph College (later CLARKE COLLEGE) in 1881. The Sisters also staffed Mundelein in Chicago, Illinois. The Sisters have also been affiliated with many schools in Dubuque including St. Anthony's, St. Patrick's, and WAHLERT CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL.

Dubuque BVM Alumni, formerly St. Joseph Academy Alumnae, became the local chapter of the national Federation of Alumni, Sisters of Charity, BVM. When WAHLERT CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL replaced the small high schools, the group opened its membership to all interested persons taught by the BVMs. (3)

In 1982 the Sisters founded the Roberta Kuhn Center, named in memory of Sister Roberta KUHN, as a "ministry to older people." Initially free classes in art, bridge, foreign language, word processing, scripture, and crafts were held in a converted barn at Mount Carmel. As the program grew, classes were moved to the Motherhouse and other locations. (4)

Sister Helen Garvey of Dubuque and president of the Sisters, addressed Pope John Paul II in September, 1987 on the role of women in the church. Speaking in San Francisco, she urged the pope to considered expanding women's roles in all areas of church life. (5)

In October 1995 the Sisters had to wait until almost Christmas for a change in city law to allow them to construct housing for twenty-eight members. The four buildings, according to the Sisters, were a convent which was allowed in the single family neighborhood near South Grandview. Neighbors, however, contended the buildings were apartments. The Zoning Board initially opposed the building permit, but later reconsidered the plan. Legal action and the zoning board's opposition to a new definition of convent, led to the need of the city council to pass the issue by a "super majority." The soonest this could be done was December 18th. (6)

Annually on December 8th, BVMs and associated renew their vows and commitments. In 2013 for the first time, the Sisters celebrated the reception of a new BVM novice and the commitment of a new BVM associate. The combined event symbolized the collaboration between BVM sisters and associates as faith and ministry partners. (7)

Like the first BVM sisters to arrive in Dubuque, the order in modern times has been a pioneer on many fronts. Sister Mary McCauley BVM while serving in St. Bridget's Parish in Postville, Iowa was one of the first responders to the raid of May 12, 2008 on Agriprocessors, Inc. carried out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security together with other agencies that led to sudden deportation of immigrant workers. Mary Kevin Gallagher BVM became the first woman chancellor of the Archdiocese and author of Seed/Harvest: A History of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. Carolyn FARRELL was elected as Dubuque's first woman mayor. Sister Judy Callahan, BVM, served as Archdiocesan Director of Hispanic Ministry while Sister Helen Maher Garvey, while president of the BVMs, led efforts leading to the Dubuque Housing Initiative providing low-income housing in the city. Sister Mary Ann Zolliman, president of the BVMs, joined other women religious leaders to esTABLISH MARIA HOUSE and THERESA SHELTER. (8)

Mount Carmel, the BVM motherhouse, in 2016 was the home of about 170 retired Sisters and the administrative center of the order. BVM Sisters served in seventeen states as well as Ecuador and Ghana in ministries including education, advocacy for immigrants' rights, parish ministry and hospital chaplaincy. (9) In 2017 it was estimated that nearly five thousand women had entered the BVM sisterhood. (10)

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Source:

1. "The Sisters' School," The Herald, August 29, 1866, p. 4

2. Kundert, Rob. "Tri-State's Irish Heritage," Telegraph Herald, March 16, 2017, p. 51

3. "Church Women Provide Welfare Services, Money," Telegraph Herald, April 26, 1970, p. 64

4. "Center of Spirituality," Telegraph Herald, April 24, 1994, p. 9

5. "1987," Telegraph Herald, December 27, 1987, p. 26

6. "Delay Makes Nuns Wait," Telegraph Herald, October 17, 1995, p. 3

7. "Sisters of Charity Note 2 New Designations," Telegraph Herald, December 14, 2013, p. 27

8. Lawlor, Kathryn, BVM, "BVM Sisters Celebrate 170 Years," Telegraph Herald, June 29, 2013, p. 19

9. Miska, Rhonda. "Sisters Take to the Airwaves," Telegraph Herald, March 12, 2016, p. 12

10. Lawlor, Kathryn BVM, "Teaching Without Seeming to Teach," Telegraph Herald, March 16, 2017, p. 47