Franciscan Sisters of Peace

The Franciscan Sisters of Peace are a Roman Catholic community of women in consecrated life based in Haverstraw, New York. Founded in 1986 as an institute of consecrated life of diocesan right, the community emerged from the American Province of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Its identity is grounded in the Franciscan tradition associated with Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi, particularly the Gospel life of the Third Order Regular and the vocation of Christian penitence, service, and conversion. The community traces its institutional heritage to 1865, when three Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart traveled from Gemona del Friuli, Italy, to New York City. Their work initially focused on serving Italian immigrants and addressing practical and spiritual needs among communities in the United States. The sisters' ministries expanded over time, attracting new members and developing a range of charitable, educational, pastoral, healthcare, and social-service activities. In 1890, the American Province of St. Francis was established within the European congregation, with its provincial motherhouse in Peekskill, New York. In 1986, 112 vowed women from that province helped establish the Franciscan Sisters of Peace as a new diocesan community. The new institute emphasized peace as a distinctive expression of the Franciscan charism. For the sisters, peace is not merely an absence of conflict but the outcome of a life shaped by contemplative prayer, conversion, poverty, humility, and a willingness to serve others. Their stated approach links personal transformation with social responsibility, advocating simple and nonviolent ways of living that respect human dignity and the earth. The congregation's apostolic work has included teaching, social work, administration, parish service, prison chaplaincy, retreat ministry, childcare, and healthcare. These activities reflect a broad interpretation of religious service rather than a single commercial or institutional offering. The sisters also participate in collaborative initiatives addressing social injustice, human trafficking, migrant and worker welfare, elder care, and community support. Their work has included membership in U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking and support for Seafarers International House's Christmas at Sea initiative through the congregation's Minores Fund. The Franciscan Sisters of Peace have also participated in intercongregational healthcare work. They were among five religious communities involved in creating Marian Woods in Hartsdale, New York, a residential healthcare facility for older members of the founding communities. The facility serves residents with conditions that limit their ability to manage everyday activities and is situated on property designed to provide a peaceful setting. The community's mission emphasizes education toward a Christian and Franciscan lifestyle characterized by simplicity and nonviolence in a global community. Its philosophy presents creation, human dignity, reconciliation, and justice as interconnected concerns. The sisters describe peacemaking as a vocation requiring creativity, moral imagination, trust, gentleness, frugality, and the courage to expose injustice without perpetuating cycles of retaliation. Alongside vowed members, the community's mission materials refer to the peacemaking work of associates and to educational communication through its newsletter. The organization is a religious community rather than a conventional consumer brand, and it has no publicly identified stock listing, commercial parent, or market valuation.

The Franciscan Sisters of Peace belong to the wider Franciscan tradition of religious and lay communities inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi. Early Franciscan penitents developed forms of communal Gospel living that eventually included vowed religious congregations associated with the Third Order Regular. The Franciscan Sisters of Peace understand their own vocation within this tradition of prayer, conversion, humility, poverty, service, and works of mercy. Their immediate institutional predecessor was the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. In 1865, three members of that congregation traveled from Gemona del Friuli in northeastern Italy to New York City. Their purpose was to minister among Italian immigrants and respond to the educational, social, pastoral, and material needs of people living in the United States. The sisters' presence developed during a period of significant immigration and urban change, and their pioneering work helped attract additional vocations and establish a broader American ministry. In 1890, the American Province of St. Francis was formed within the European congregation. Its provincial motherhouse was established in Peekskill, New York, creating an enduring institutional base for the sisters' activities in the region. Over subsequent decades, members worked in varied forms of service, including education, healthcare, parish ministry, social work, and other charitable apostolates. The legacy of the early sisters was described in terms of faith, trust in divine providence, practical service, and a commitment to bringing peace through works of mercy and justice. A major transition occurred in 1986, when 112 vowed women from the St. Francis province co-founded a new community, the Franciscan Sisters of Peace. The new congregation was established as an institute of consecrated life of diocesan right and located its congregation center in Haverstraw, New York. Its creation represented a distinct expression of the Franciscan inheritance, with peace adopted as the central charism of the new community. For the Franciscan Sisters of Peace, peacemaking combines spiritual discipline with social and ecological responsibility. Their stated values include contemplative prayer, ongoing conversion, poverty or simplicity, and minority, understood in the Franciscan sense of humility and a readiness to take the place of the lesser or servant. The community's philosophy connects the sacredness of every person and the natural world with a commitment to nonviolent relationships. It presents nonviolence as an active moral practice capable of interrupting humiliation, revealing unjust systems, and replacing retaliation with truth, reconciliation, and creative action. The sisters have continued their mission through a variety of ministries. Members have served as teachers, social workers, administrators, parish associates, prison chaplains, retreat directors, childcare workers, and healthcare workers. Their work has also included collaborative initiatives with other religious communities and Catholic organizations. The congregation's Minores Fund supported the Christmas at Sea initiative of Seafarers International House, providing practical and seasonal assistance to seafarers separated from their families and often unable to leave their ships. The community is also associated with U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking. In 1995, the Franciscan Sisters of Peace joined the Sisters of Mercy, the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt, and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in creating Marian Woods in Hartsdale, New York. The facility provides residential healthcare for older members of the participating congregations, including residents whose health conditions affect their ability to perform ordinary daily tasks. Its setting was designed around a substantial area of preserved open land, consistent with the community's preference for a peaceful environment. The congregation's continuing mission is to educate and witness toward a Christian and Franciscan way of life marked by simplicity and nonviolence in a global community. Its materials describe peace as a way of life that can unite people across religious and cultural differences. Rather than treating peacemaking as a narrow program, the sisters present it as the organizing principle for prayer, community life, ministry, advocacy, and service.

• 1995

  Marian Woods created

  [1]Franciscan Sisters of Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The congregation joined four other religious communities in establishing Marian Woods, a healthcare residence for older members of the participating congregations in Hartsdale, New York.

• 1986

  Franciscan Sisters of Peace founded

  [1]Franciscan Sisters of Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  One hundred and twelve vowed women from the St. Francis province co-founded the Franciscan Sisters of Peace as an institute of consecrated life of diocesan right.

• 1890

  American Province of St. Francis established

  [1]Franciscan Sisters of Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The American Province of St. Francis was organized within the European congregation, with its provincial motherhouse established in Peekskill, New York.

• 1865

  Franciscan missionaries arrive in New York

  [1]Franciscan Sisters of Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  Three Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart traveled from Gemona del Friuli, Italy, to New York City to serve Italian immigrants and respond to local spiritual and material needs.

A Franciscan Catholic community positioned around peacemaking, contemplative prayer, simplicity, nonviolence, service, and advocacy for human dignity and creation.

• Religious vocation · 1986

  Franciscan religious life and formation

  The congregation offers a form of consecrated religious life rooted in the Gospel tradition of Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi. Its community life emphasizes prayer, conversion, simplicity, poverty, humility, and the practice of peacemaking. Formation and communal witness are directed toward living a Franciscan response to social, spiritual, and ecological concerns.

• Social and pastoral ministry · 1986

  Peacemaking ministries

  The sisters carry out peacemaking through education, parish work, social services, prison chaplaincy, retreat direction, healthcare, childcare, administration, and related forms of direct service. These ministries apply the congregation's commitment to nonviolence and human dignity in practical settings rather than presenting peace solely as an abstract theological principle.

• Charitable support

  Minores Fund initiatives

  The Minores Fund supports projects consistent with the congregation's peacemaking and service mission. One documented example is grant assistance for Seafarers International House's Christmas at Sea program, which supplies gifts and practical items to seafarers isolated aboard ships and separated from their families.

• Christmas at Sea support

  United States

  Through the Minores Fund, the congregation supported Seafarers International House's holiday initiative for seafarers who may be confined aboard vessels because of extended contracts or public-health restrictions. Port chaplains distribute satchels containing clothing, snacks, and gifts.

  Outcome. The grant helped sustain practical and seasonal assistance for maritime workers separated from their families.

  Source
• Human-trafficking prevention and advocacy

  United States

  The Franciscan Sisters of Peace participate in U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking, a Catholic religious network focused on education, awareness, advocacy, and responses to trafficking.

  Outcome. The available reference confirms organizational participation but does not provide quantified campaign results.

  Source

• 1995

  Creation of Marian WoodsOther

  Background

  Several religious communities needed a healthcare setting for older members whose medical conditions affected their ability to live independently.

  Action taken

  The Franciscan Sisters of Peace collaborated with four other congregations to establish Marian Woods in Hartsdale, New York.

  Aftermath

  Marian Woods became a residential healthcare facility serving members of the participating founding communities.

  Source

• 1986

  Establishment of a distinct peacemaking congregationStrategy

  Background

  Members of the American Province of St. Francis sought a new diocesan community expressing a particular Franciscan emphasis on peace.

  Action taken

  One hundred and twelve vowed women co-founded the Franciscan Sisters of Peace as an institute of consecrated life of diocesan right, centered in Haverstraw, New York.

  Aftermath

  The new community organized its ministries and public mission around contemplative prayer, simplicity, nonviolence, service, and justice.

  Source

1. 1Franciscan Sisters of Peaceen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Franciscan Sisters of Peace official websitefspnet.org