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Pope Francis encouraged and inspired all religious during the Year of Religious Life (2015), teaching that this is a time when we are invited to, “look back with gratitude, to look forward with hope and to strive to live the present with joy.” We give thanks in particular for the many lives that have been touched by the love of Christ, which they encountered in the prayer and ministry of the Sisters.

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Origins

The origins of congregation date back to 1696, to the French village of Levesville, near Chartres. Père Louis Chauvet, who had been appointed parish priest, was confronted by the sad plight of the people and he endeavoured to build up morale among parishioners.

He gathered together four young women, aged 17-19, to teach the children and to care for the sick in their homes. Then he set about establishing a small school.

By 1700, these women had come to live together in community and followed a simple rule of life. In 1707, as their numbers grew, the bishop of Chartres provided a house for the Sisters in Chartres, close to the Cathedral, and gave them the name ‘Sisters of St Paul.’

The history of that Congregation, which eventually established itself worldwide, is a record of hidden lives of poverty, genuine love of the poor and, at times, of supreme heroism for the sake of Christ and His Gospel.

The young Genevieve Dupuis, the fifteenth child in a family of sixteen, joined that Congregation on 6th April 1834.

One hundred and fifty years after the Chartres foundation, another parish priest, Dr William Tandy, was serving in the English Mission at Banbury in Oxfordshire. On the recommendation of Dr (later Cardinal) Wiseman, Dr Tandy wrote to the Director of the Sisters of St Paul of Chartres and requested the help of two Sisters.

In response, Sr Zoile, (Genevieve Dupuis) and Sr Marie Joseph Sapiens were appointed to undertake this mission and arrived in Banbury on 26th June 1847. This was to be a new foundation, independent of Chartres, tough retaining a close filial relationship with the French Congregation. The English foundation was to be known as “The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St Paul, the Apostle” and Genevieve Dupuis was regarded as its Founder.

It was a time of great hardship for the two sisters. Leaving home and country and the security of her own community, Genevieve faced the difficulties of a foreign language, a different and often hostile culture, material poverty and religious indifference; non-Catholics were mistrustful and often openly antagonistic.

However, she possessed a strong faith which had been nurtured in her family, who had frequently offered a safe home to priests who were ministering during the French Revolution. ‘It is to them I owe my vocation,’ she would later write. Genevieve’s frailty as a child gave no indication of the strength of character which was later to manifest itself supported by that very strong faith.

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Banbury

In Banbury, Dr Tandy gave his presbytery to serve as the first temporary convent and here was born the Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle. As Superior, Novice Mistress and teacher, Genevieve soon became known affectionately as Mother Dupuis.

She quickly grew in awareness of the need for basic education as well as catechetical instruction where no provision was being made. She pioneered night schools to meet the needs of children who were working during the day. Eventually, with financial support from Chartres, the first convent was opened and became known as ‘St John’s Priory.’

This fledgling community was growing against a backdrop of the Industrial Revolution, the impact of the Irish famine and laws against Catholics, which, at that time were gradually relaxing due to the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829); yet, there were few churches and schools and no public finance available.

It was astonishing how many requests for help came from bishops and parish priests to this tiny French woman who responded by sending sisters, often two by two, to the great industrial towns of Birmingham and the North, to teach children, instruct them in the faith and undertake pastoral work.

In 1863, with 26 branch convents and 116 sisters, Genevieve resolved to go to Rome to get the Holy Father’s approval for her congregation. Though she had many obstacles to overcome, Pope Pius IX received her in an audience and eventually granted the Congregation Apostolic approval in March 1864. “Now,” she said, “we belong to the Church by special adoption.”

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Selly Park

From the time of her arrival in Banbury, Genevieve received much support from Bishop Ullathorne of Birmingham who was keen for the Mother House to be in the Cathedral city. This significant move was accomplished in September 1864 when the Mother House was established at Selly Park.

Promoting the Congregation’s charism of charity was Genevieve’s greatest priority, and she believed the secret of the success of any of its work was due to its witness to charity. Her range of apostolic ministry was wide, but all was inspired by the words of Jesus, “The Son of Man came to serve, not to be served” (Mt 20:28).

She was also determined to protect the unity of her Apostolic Congregation despite much pressure from some bishops and parish priests to create diocesan or provincial structures. “As long as we are founded and rooted in Charity,” she wrote, “nothing will be able to shake our community or stay the work God has given us to do.”

Today, the Congregation continues to nurture that same spirit of unity, irrespective of where sisters live and minister. The Mother House at Selly Park continues to be the heart of the congregation, a house of prayer, hospitality and care.

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Expanding the Mission

At the time of her death on 25th September 1903, aged 90, Genevieve had established 88 convents across almost every diocese in England and, as a contemporary of Cardinals Wiseman, Manning and Newman, she was regarded as one who, along with her sisters, contributed significantly to the restoration of the Catholic Faith in England.

That same year the first of four convents and schools was established in Ireland, which became the seed ground of many vocations to the congregation. Further missions were founded in South Africa (1954) in collaboration with The Redemptorist Congregation, and in Romania in 1990 with much support from some of the local clergy and the Archbishops of Bucharest and Iasi.

Today the Sisters of Charity of St Paul, the Apostle, mindful that the poor are still very much with them in many guises, believe firmly that religious life, expressed through its various charisms, continues to be a much needed gift to the Church and to humanity.

Encouraged by Pope Francis’ call to religious congregations to collaborate in order, ‘to create alternate spaces’ for proclaiming God’s reign, the Sisters continue to seek such opportunities, working increasingly with other apostolic congregations, the faithful and the local Church to fulfil their mission to be, ‘all things to all people in order to save some at any cost.’ (1 Cor. 9:22)

As they celebrate with gratitude 175 years of service to the Church, The Sisters of Charity of St Paul are open to receiving and forming new members as missionary disciples in their life of prayer, community and ministry. Enriched by the gift of their charism of charity and inspired by their great patron St Paul and their founder Genevieve Dupuis, may they continue in the future to live out their mission in a spirit of joy, simplicity and hope in the service of Christ and humanity.