History - In 2009 we celebrate 400 years!

Circle of Friends Loreto Sisters belong to one branch of The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the religious order founded by an Englishwoman named Mary Ward in 1609. In 2009 to 2011 Loreto Sisters around the world will be celebrating 400 years of Mary Ward's founding vision, courage and commitment to education for women and justice for the vulnerable.

Mary Ward had a vision for a different mode of religious life for women, captured in the artist's impression (inset). She envisioned women living a life in companionship and discernment, inspired by the gospel and engaging with the world without the constraints of the traditional cloister, nor an established 'Rule', placing them under the governance of men. She also believed that women were equal to men in intellect and should be educated accordingly. Her model for the order she envisaged was the Society of Jesus (opens in a new window) (Jesuits), founded a little over fifty years previously. Among other works, she and her followers opened schools for young girls throughout Europe and later in England, despite persecution and scandals surrounding their new way of being religious women. Mary was excommunicated briefly, as a heretic, and although exonerated personally, by the time she died in 1645 her order had been suppressed and her houses and schools effectively disbanded in England and Europe. The IBVM survived through the perseverance of her companions who continued the work she had inspired, living as lay women in the community and attracting others of like mind to join them.

By the mid-seventeenth century, small groups of Mary Ward's followers, known in Europe as the 'English Ladies', were to be found in Munich and Augsburg and later, on the invitation of members of the Catholic gentry, in London and York. It was to the foundation in York that in 1814, Mary Teresa Ball, a young Irish woman, was sent to live with and learn from the IBVM sisters. She returned to Dublin in 1821 to found the Institute there and called her first school 'Loretto'. Most schools founded by this 'Irish' Branch of the order were called by the same name, the spelling of which changed at the end of the nineteenth century. The 'Irish Branch' became known popularly as 'Loreto'.

Mary Ward's charism was formed through her lived experience of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and stressed a spirit of freedom, justice and sincerity for the greater glory of God.

Chapel: Loreto, Mary's Mount, Ballarat

Today, the order she inspired is worldwide and has been divided, historically, into three main groups known as The Roman Branch, The Irish Branch and The North American Branch. This situation changed in September 2003, when the sisters of the North American Branch voted by an overwhelming majority, to reunite with the Irish Branch. From this, confirmed by Papal Decree, a 'new' entity has been forged, now referred to as The Loreto Branch. In 2004 the Roman Branch received permission from the Vatican to change its name, to reflect more closely Mary Ward's vision of a Jesuit order for women. The Roman Branch is now The Congregation of Jesus. (see IBVM International)

From their base at Loreto Abbey in Ballarat, the sisters established parish schools in Portland and South Melbourne (1880s), followed by Loreto Schools in Sydney (1892), Perth (1897), Adelaide (1905), Melbourne (1924) and Brisbane (1927). They were also requested to staff and administer additional parish schools: St. Josephs and St. Aloysius (both in Ballarat) and Sts. Peter and Paul's in South Melbourne (1891). Nor was education confined to primary and secondary schooling. In 1884 Mary Gonzaga Barry established a Training College for Catholic Women Teachers in Ballarat. Twenty-two years later, in 1906, a second Training College for Teachers was established at Albert Park in Melbourne.

In 1917, the Loreto sisters were appointed to administer St. Mary's Hall at the University of Melbourne, later to become St. Mary's College. Until the 1960s, members of the Loreto order worked almost exclusively in schools: those not immediately involved with teaching being responsible for the daily tasks associated with the conduct of large institutions. With the Second Vatican Council in 1964-65, all religious orders were challenged to return to the study of their founders and see if, in them, they might be challenged to review their present commitments. In the seventeenth century Mary Ward had maintained her belief in the work of education, particularly for girls. She was also of the view that women played a pivotal role in society -and would do so increasingly. Neither her times nor her thinking, however, confined the task of education to the classroom. In her own day, as well as founding schools, Mary Ward and her followers sought other ways congruous to their times, to further their vision for the church. In re-acquainting themselves with the original desire of their founder, Loreto sisters in Australia have maintained a commitment to schools but have also moved increasingly into other areas (Works).

Timeline of Loreto in Australia (pdf document)