Ursuline Academy in St. Louis among five Ursuline-sponsored schools moving to new foundation
Ursuline Sister Peggy Moore, center, the provincial prioress, led the ceremony in which the sponsorship of Ursuline Academy was transferred to a newly established sponsorship model called the Ursuline Education Foundation.
After more than 175 years in St. Louis, the Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union, Central Province, are transferring sponsorship of Ursuline Academy to a newly established sponsorship model called the Ursuline Education Foundation.
The all-girls Catholic high school, located in the St. Louis County suburb of Oakland near Kirkwood, is one of five Ursuline-sponsored schools in the United States that have or will transfer sponsorship to the new foundation. Ursuline Academy marked the sponsorship transfer with a Mass and ceremony on Oct. 21.
The Ursuline Education Foundation is considered a ministerial public juridic person, a status granted by the Vatican that enables laypeople to take on the sponsorship role traditionally held by religious. The foundation is a bridge between the schools and the Church, promoting Catholic identity and the sisters’ charism within the schools.
Recognizing that their ability to fulfill a sponsorship role would be limited by an aging community and a national trend of fewer women choosing religious life, the Ursuline Sisters began meeting with constituents from each school more than a decade ago to explore a solution.
“As we saw our sisters were no longer able to continue with the responsibilities of the schools, they said, we want to stay Ursuline, we want to stay Catholic,” provincial Sister Peggy Moore, OSU, said. “We then began the process of seeing how that could be done.”
A sponsorship is a relationship between the religious community and the wider Church, primarily the diocese and the local ordinary, or head bishop. With the new ministerial public juridic person, the relationship will exist between the new lay-led entity and the archbishop of St. Louis, as well as a direct relationship between the foundation and the Vatican. As part of its pontifical designation, the group will be expected to submit an annual report to Rome.
The Ursuline Education Foundation has 11 members, called canonical stewards, the majority of whom are parents of past students and alumnae representing each of the five schools, and two Ursuline Sisters.
The new sponsorship model is not expected to affect day-to-day operations, Sister Peggy said. Oversight of finances, governance and academics will remain the responsibility of each school’s administrators and board of trustees/directors.
“It kindles my spirit to see the commitment of laypeople who have assumed responsibility of this foundation,” Sister Peggy said. “They’re dedicated and expressed gratitude that we have entrusted this to them.”
Sister Peggy described the school’s charism as relational, with a focus on strong spiritual formation, a nurturing school community and a focus on the uniqueness of individuals and the development of the whole person.
“We’re seeing it’s the mission of the Church, and the Church is the people of God,” not just the religious communities of men and women who have traditionally sponsored Catholic schools, Sister Peggy said.
Other Ursuline schools transferring sponsorship to the new foundation are located in Waterville, Maine; Dedham, Massachusetts; Dallas; and New Orleans.
