Congregation of the Sisters of St. Elisabeth

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The Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth is a Catholic women's order . For a long time, because of the color of their habit , they called themselves the Gray Sisters of St. Elisabeth . The community has around 1,200 sisters worldwide (as of 2015).

history

Window in the chapel in Järfälla , Sweden .

In 1842, four women in Neisse / Silesia (Clara Wolff, Maria Merkert , Mathilde Merkert and Franziska Werner) decided to lead a religious life and care for outpatients in their homes. After great difficulties and hostility, the Breslau prince-bishop Heinrich Förster recognized the community in 1859. Two sisters in the founding group had already died while nursing the sick, the other two, Maria Merkert and Franziska Werner, became the first General Superior .

The Catholic Charity for Saint Elizabeth was founded for the institutions of this community . A decree of the Prussian King Wilhelm I made it a legal person in 1864 after the sisters had cared for the wounded in the Danish war . The final papal endorsement made the community a congregation under papal law in 1887 .

The areas of activity expanded over time. In addition to nursing , there was care for children and the elderly, care for women in emergency situations, community work and catechesis and teaching in schools.

The community grew very quickly. The four sisters of 1842 had grown to 468 by 1875. After a decline due to the Kulturkampf , the number of sisters rose to almost two thousand around 1900 and reached its highest level of over 4,800 in 1939 before the outbreak of World War II. Since then, the number of members has steadily decreased. The sisters work in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Israel, Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Bolivia. There used to be branches in Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Malawi, Switzerland and the USA.

In Germany, the Elisabeth Sisters were organized in five provinces . The provincial houses were in Reinbek near Hamburg, Berlin, Halle, Dresden and Hofheim. After German reunification , these provinces merged into a single province of Germany in 2003 with the Provincial House in Berlin.

The initially popular name "gray sisters", which goes back to the color of the clothes worn by the first sisters, was the official name of the community until 1968. Since the term "gray" sounded derogatory in some countries where the community had spread, the sisters deleted it from their name. Since then they have called themselves the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Elizabeth .

Focus of activity

The sisters see themselves primarily as a religious community. In view of the extensive professional work, the 1987 constitutions specified their status for the sisters. “Professional activity occupies a large space in our religious life. However, we do not want to seek our ultimate fulfillment in it, but rather recognize it as a mission of Christ through a positive attitude. [...] Our apostolate [...] is not limited to external action. It encompasses our whole being. 'It is not what you do that is of greater importance, but what you are as women consecrated to the Lord.' ”The community of sisters does not see itself as a working association. “Our apostolate grows out of the love of Christ, which we have experienced through the Holy Spirit in our calling to ourselves. Before any external activity, it is our task to bear witness to the presence of Christ in our midst. "

Mother house

The parent company was initially located in the four founders' home in Neisse. In 1890 it was moved to Breslau . Due to the expulsion of the German sisters, the parent company moved to Reinbek near Hamburg after the Second World War . In 1974 the general government moved to Rome to better reflect the international orientation of the sister community .

organization

The legal entity of the congregation is still the Catholic Charity for Saint Elisabeth , a foundation under public law with its seat in Reinbek near Hamburg . It is responsible for hospitals , old people's homes and other social institutions.

In Rome, the Order maintains a small guest house on the Esquiline in the former Palazzo dei Conti di Bagno in Via dell'Olmata, which is available to travelers.

literature

  • History of the Congregation of the Gray Sisters of Saint Elizabeth. A contribution to the history of Catholic charity and mission over the past 100 years
    • Joseph Schweter: Volume 1: Total History . Frankes, Breslau 1937.
    • Joseph Schweter: Volume 2: The individual branches according to the order provinces . Frankes, Breslau 1937.
    • Kurt Engelbert: Volume 3: 1935-1966 . August Lax Verlagbuchhandlung, Hildesheim 1969.
  • Johannes Mertens: History of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Elisabeth 1842-1992. 2 volumes, Reinbek 1998 (not available in bookshops).
  • Stefan Wolter: The Christian Hospital and its legal predecessors . Norderstedt 2006, ISBN 3-8334-3047-8 (treatise on the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Eisenach operated by the Congregation of the Gray Sisters of St. Elisabeth ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Annuario Pontificio , 2017 edition, p. 1622.
  2. ^ FAZ from February 10, 2011, pages R6 and R7: Culture instead of games, but necessarily bread .