Ursulines serve the people of God around the world in Africa, Asia, Central and South America through education and social outreach to local needs.
Whether they are in Thailand, Indonesia, Botswana, or Venezuela, Ursulines began their ministries through the founding of schools, and later extended their service to meet local needs in such things as initiating new farming methods, caring for victims of AIDS, human trafficking, social justice, spiritual direction, caring for the poor, and religious education.
Today’s U.S. overseas ministries follow in the Ursuline tradition. Ursulines were among the earliest religious sisters to arrive in the New World. In 1639, Blessed Marie of the Incarnation arrived in Quebec to serve the native population. Ursulines were invited to New Orleans in 1727 to educate youth and to care for the sick in a fast-growing settlement in New France.
In the mid-nineteenth century Ursulines were invited to serve the German and Irish immigrants in New York. Ursulines from various communities sent sisters to Montana in 1884 to educate native Americans. In 1905 Ursulines went to Alaska to educate the native children. Schools were founded in China, and the Ursulines, driven from the mainland at the time of the Revolution, settled in Taiwan. Many of these worldwide foundations continue to flourish.
Today, Ursulines of the United States, in this great tradition, take their apostolic mission to all parts of the globe.
Maps courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps used with permission.