Who We Are

Inspired by our founder Mary Ward Loreto Sisters and their colleagues form a wide circle of friends. They continue to bring her mission of justice, equality and truth to the world, particularly through the education of women and ‘other means congruous to the times’.

Based on the Ignatian spiritual tradition, the ministries of the Loreto Sisters and their colleagues aim to support growth into freedom with a generosity and confidence to seek truth and do justice.

Our Mission:

To transform the Church and the world, particularly by empowering women to seek truth and do justice.

Our Values:

 Freedom, Justice, Sincerity, Felicity, Verity

“With real strength and courage do what is seen to be good in all circumstances in which we are placed, not letting ourselves be deterred from this good by any opposition.”

– Mary Ward

We acknowledge and pay respect to the first Australian people as the original and ongoing owners and custodians of this land. We commit ourselves to actively work alongside Indigenous people for reconciliation and justice.

Ours is an apostolic community whose focus is mission. We are a community for dispersion, inserted in the local culture, ready to go wherever we are sent.

– IBVM Constitutions Vol ii 3.18

Australia and South East Asia

The shared mission of Loreto involves thousands of people including Sisters, friends, colleagues and volunteers who work in Australia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

So many engaged in our shared mission carry the responsibility for continuing the legacy of the founder Mary Ward – educating young people and responding to the needs of our time in the spirit of Freedom, Justice and Sincerity.

Feature Image: The Leadership Teams of Mary Ward’s Institute, the IBVM and CJ Sisters, met in Rome to pray and plan, share hopes and celebrate a meal | June 2020