On a “Path to Completion”: The Sisters of Charity of New York

News from the Sisters of Charity of New York:

The Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York will no longer work toward finding nor accepting new members to our Congregation, in the United States.

[W]e, Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York, continue to live our mission to the fullest, while acknowledging that we are on a path to completion.

The decision was not an easy one.  Currently there are 154 Sisters of Charity of New York.

Press Release, “The Sisters of Charity of New York Vote on Congregation’s Path to Completion,” (April 27, 2023)

In 1846 the Sisters of Charity of New York split from Mother Seton’s foundation for various reasons following from the reaffiliation of the United States sisters with those of France. Notably, the New York sisters retained the original habit of Elizabeth Seton with its quaint bonnet. These sisters were in the past ubiquitous in and around New York City, running St. Vincent’s Hospital, the New York Foundling Hospital, Mount St. Vincent’s College and many other institutions – as well as teaching at parochial schools (80 in 1913).

Some idea of the comprehensive character of charitable work performed by the Sisters of Charity may be obtained from even a brief consideration of their institutions for the care of suffering humanity under all conditions. …Every age and condition of life that needs care, from before birth till death, has special provision made for it. 1)

The Sisters of Charity of Mount St. Vincent, who have always been the largest group in the archdiocese, were by common consent the strictest of the non-contemplative sisterhoods. in 1962 they has 1,368 professed Sisters, 70 novices and 45 postulants. In 1978 the figures were 895, two and one respectively. In 1995 the only figures available listed their total as 623 Sisters. 2)

Today, as their press release indicates, there remain only 154 elderly sisters. Most of their apostolates have also either disappeared or have been utterly transformed. The most spectacular example was the inglorious closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital in 2010.

1. The Catholic Church in the United States of America, Vol. II, at 65 ( The Catholic Editing Company, New York, 1913). Interestingly, this publication gives the Sisters of Charity of New York “around 1400 members” in 1908 – approximately the same number as in 1962 (see Footnote 2) – but I wonder if the base is the same?
2. Cohalan, Msgr. Florence D. , A Popular History of the Archdiocese of New York at 399 ( United States Catholic Historical Society, Yonkers, New York, 2nd Edition, 1999).