Sisters of Divine Providence
SISTERS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
(CDP, Official Catholic Directory #0990); founded in 1851 by Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von ketteler of Mainz, Germany. Amelia Fanny de la Roche, one of the original group of five members, became the first superior of the community, which adopted the title of Sisters of Divine Providence. In 1873, during the kulturkampf, the German government prohibited their teaching in government schools and forbade the acceptance of new members. Three years later six sisters made the first United States settlement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The congregation's rules and regulations, drawn up by Ketteler and modeled on those of St. Vincent de Paul, were later revised and received papal approbation in 1935. The members bind themselves by the three vows of religion and exercise their apostolate primarily through educational and nursing activities.
At the beginning of the 21st century, there were three provinces in the United States: St. Peter's (established 1876) with headquarters at Allison Park, Pennsylvania; St. Louis (established 1930), at Hazelwood, Missouri; and Our Lady of Divine Providence (established 1957), at Kingston, Massachusetts. The generalate of the congregation is in Rome, Italy.
[m. a. winschel/eds.]