Sisters of St. Louis

The Sisters of St Louis (SSL) is a Roman Catholic religious order of nuns. It traces its origins back to Juilly, France in 1842. It originally included men as well as women but subsequently became a women-only order.[1] It is a relatively small order with a total of 450 members distributed across branches in Ireland, France, Belgium, United States and Africa.[2]

Sisters of St. Louis
Founder
Louis Marie Eugène Bautain
Religions
Roman Catholicism
Website
www.stlouissisters.org

Ireland
Former St. Louis Convent in Ramsgrange, County Wexford, built in 1912.[3]

The mother house of the order in Ireland was founded in Monaghan in 1859. The second house followed in Bundoran in 1870.[4] By papal decree, the Irish province became autonomous in 1921. It returned to the mother-congregation (in Juilly) in 1952.

The order was involved in the establishment of several schools. These included

However, the order has since withdrawn from involvement in these schools.

Child sexual and physical abuse

The Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry investigated historical physical and sexual abuse of children at St Joseph's Training School, Middletown, N.I., run by the Sisters of St Louis. There were many instances of physical abuse, and some of sexual abuse, but the inquiry did not find evidence of systemic sexual abuse.[10]

Apology

On 11 March 2022 ministers from the five main political parties in Northern Ireland and six abusing institutions made statements of apology in the Northern Ireland Assembly. [11]

The six institutions that apologised for carrying out abuse were De La Salle Brothers, represented by Br Francis Manning; the Sisters of Nazareth, represented by Sr Cornelia Walsh; the Sisters of St Louis represented by Sr Uainin Clarke; the Good Shepherd Sisters, represented by Sr Cait O'Leary; Barnardo's in Northern Ireland, represented by Michele Janes; and Irish Church Missions, represented by Rev Mark Jones.[11] In live reporting after the apology, BBC News reported that Jon McCourt from Survivors North West said "If what happened today was the best that the church could offer by way of an apology they failed miserably. There was no emotion, there was no ownership. ... I don't believe that the church and institutions atoned today." He called on the intuitions to "do the right thing" and contribute to the redress fund for survivors, saying that institutions have done similar for people in Scotland.[12]: 15:11  McCourt praised the government ministers' apologies; they had "sat and thought out and listened to what it was we said.", but said that the institutions had failed to do this, leading to some victims having to leave the room while they were speaking, "compound[ing] the hurt."[12]: 15:22  Others angry at the institutions' apologies included Caroline Farry, who attended St Joseph's Training School in Middletown from 1978-1981, overseen by nuns from the Sisters of St Louis,[12]: 15:04  Pádraigín Drinan from Survivors of Abuse,[12]: 14:55  and Alice Harper, whose brother, a victim of the De La Salle Brothers, had since died.[12]: 14:55  Peter Murdock, from campaign group Savia, was at Nazareth Lodge Orphanage with his brother (who had recently died); he likened the institution to an "SS camp". He said "It's shocking to hear a nun from the institution apologising ... it comes 30 years too late ... people need to realise that it has to come from the heart. They say it came from the heart but why did they not apologise 30 years ago?"[12]: 14:34 

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sisters of St. Louis.
  1. "Sisters of Saint Louis". Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  2. "Sisters of Saint Louis". Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  3. "Saint Louis's Convent once Saint Catherine's Convent, Ramsgrange, County Wexford". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  4. "Review: GOD WILLS IT!". Clogher Record. Clogher Historical Society. 2 (3): 554–557. 1959. JSTOR 27695496.
  5. "St. Louis Secondary School, Monaghan". Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  6. "St Louis Secondary School, Carrickmacross". Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  7. "St Louis Secondary School, Dundalk". Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  8. Founded on 25 June 1871 as Boarding School for Young Ladies: "Opening of St. Catherine's Convent, Ramsgrange". Freeman's Journal. Dublin. 29 June 1871. p. 3, col. 8.
  9. Opened as Ramsgrange Community School in September 1977: "Whole School Evaluation Report: Ramgsgrange Community School". Department of Education. 21 June 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  10. "18: Module 11 – St Joseph's Training School, Middletown; sections Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Peer Abuse" (PDF). Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (Report). Vol. 5. Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry. 2017. ISBN 978-1-908820-91-4.
  11. McCormack, Jayne; Andrews, Chris (11 March 2022). "Abuse survivors hear Stormont public apology". BBC News.
  12. Connolly, Gráinne; Glynn, Niall; McCauley, Ciaran (11 March 2022). "Abuse survivors apology delivered at Stormont (reported live)". BBC News.
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