Our congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame began in a friendship rooted
in the love of Christ. Since two young women said “yes” to
God more than 150 years ago, thousands of sisters have followed God’s
call to be Sisters of Notre Dame, sharing with others God’s radiant
goodness and healing love.
The Kulturkampf laws passed by the Prussian government of Chancellor Otto
von Bismarck in the 1870s provided the human impetus through which God
spread the Sisters of Notre Dame throughout the world. When these laws forced
religious
sisters out of their teaching positions in the public elementary schools,
and drove the teaching congregations out of Prussia, the sisters sought
new places of ministry in The Netherlands, and in the United States.
From
the
United States and Europe our sisters moved out to other parts of the
world. Dutch sisters began ministry in Indonesia in 1934, while sisters from
Germany
and the United States began ministry in Brazil in 1923. Sisters from
Cleveland, Ohio, USA, went to India in 1949. In 1961, sisters from Toledo,
Ohio, USA,
began a mission in the western highlands of Papua New Guinea. The German
sisters extended their ministry to Korea in 1967. Sisters from India,
Brazil, and the United States started missions in East Africa in the 1990s.
Our
mission on the small island of Guimaras in the Philippines was begun in
2000 by sisters
from Indonesia and the United States. Today many women of faith, living
their call as Sisters of Notre Dame, witness to God’s loving goodness
and provident care all over the globe.
Where we are today
