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1963-2020 (Creation)
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- Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada (Pembroke, Ont.)
Physical description area
Physical description
12 photographs : b&w
120 photographs : col.
39 cm of textual records
6 architectural drawings
1 technical drawing : blueprint
1 map
2 CD-ROM (0.151 GB)
2 digital video discs
3 USB drives (15.075 GB)
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Administrative history
The Sisters of St. Joseph for the Diocese of Pembroke in Canada was first incorporated by letters patent dated January 21, 1922 under the Ontario Companies Act. The town of Pembroke, Ontario is located on the traditional lands of the Algonquin and Anishinaabe Peoples.
In 1910, Sisters from Peterborough began teaching at St. Michael’s Parish school in Douglas, followed by Killaloe in 1915 and Mount St. Patrick in 1916, all three being small rural communities in Ontario. Eleven years later, on August 25, 1921, a new community was formed at Bishop Ryan’s request by 27 Sisters from Peterborough. 14 of these Sisters were already serving in Douglas, Killaloe, and Mount St. Patrick. Mother Vincent Carroll was elected General Superior.
The new community needed a motherhouse, and the O’Kelly farm was purchased by Bishop Ryan, giving the Sisters 40 acres of farmland and 107 acres of woods on the Ottawa River, along with an old farmhouse. On September 19, 1921 St. Joseph’s-on-the-Lake, the first Motherhouse, was officially opened and blessed by Father Dowdall. St. Joseph’s Convent, the first mission of the newly formed congregation, was established in Chapeau on August 27, 1921. Here the Sisters taught in the local school for many years. The Pembroke Sisters spread out throughout Ontario and Quebec, and even made their way westward to Saskatchewan and Alberta. Some other missions included Calabogie (1924), Campbell’s Bay (1925), Barry’s Bay (1928), Renfrew (1928), Sheenboro (1936), Madawaska (1936), Deep River (1948), Quyon (1951), Des Joachims (1958), Whitney (1958). Bancroft (1959), Ottawa (1962), and Petawawa (1962).
The General Superiors of the Congregation were elected from the ranks of the founding Sisters until 1945 when Mother Magdalen Donegan was elected. She had entered the Congregation in September 1923. At the peak of its membership growth, the Congregation numbered approximately 190.
After three decades, on September 15, 1952, Bishop Smith took part in the sod turning for a new Motherhouse. On April 26, 1953 he blessed the cornerstone. The new motherhouse officially opened on December 12, 1953 – providing a home for years to which Sisters could return from missions outside Pembroke. Many of the convents outside Pembroke housed teachers, as education was a significant ministry. The first classes held at St. Joseph’s Academy, a girls’ high school in Renfrew, on September 10, 1928. A new building was completed in 1940 and the school stayed open for almost three more decades. In October 1940, the Normal School, later St. Mary’s Teachers’ College, opened in Chapeau, and saw its last graduates in 1969. This ministry was unique to the Pembroke Sisters, as no other of our communities provided teacher training.
Following the original thread of the Sisters in Le Puy, the Pembroke Sisters served others in corporal works of mercy through healthcare. On July 25, 1946 Sisters arrived in Radville, Saskatchewan to establish the first hospital, which they administered until 1998. Ten years after opening the hospital, they founded Marian Home to provide long term care, and senior care. Sisters also went to Regina, where they opened Santa Maria Senior Citizens’ Home on October 12, 1968. On January 7, 1947 they assumed the administration and staffing of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Barrhead, Alberta from the Religious Hospitallers of St Joseph. This ministry lasted until 1978.
Closer to home, St. Francis Memorial Hospital in Barry’s Bay, Ontario was opened on October 25, 1960. This hospital was also staffed by the Sisters. Sr. Rosenda Brady, who administered this hospital, later took charge of Valley Manor, a senior’s home in Barry’s Bay, which opened on June 23, 1978. On August 24, 1968, Sisters arrived to administer and staff St. Joseph’s Manor, a home for senior citizens, in Campbell’s Bay, Québec, where they remained until 1982.
There was only a short-lived ministry of orphan care at Villa St. Joseph in Renfrew from 1940 to 1947. In a spirit of adventure, the Sisters set sail to South America on April 17, 1964, to found St. Joseph’s Convent in Chincha Alta, Peru. On the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, November 2, 1964, they opened Clinica San Martin. In the spring of the following year, on April 1, 1965, the parish school opened in Chincha Alta. Classes began at Colegio San Jose in March 1970. On January 1, 1966 Clinica Tom Dooley opened in Chincha Baja.
Still following the thread of the Sisters in Le Puy, the Pembroke Sisters served others in spiritual works of mercy through parish work and spiritual development ministry. On August 15, 1978, Sisters began parish ministry in Penticton (to 1984). In September 1969, St. Joseph Centre, a renewal centre in Chapeau, opened for a brief period, followed in July 1989 by Stillpoint House of Prayer in Springtown, which has seen decades of service.
On November 22, 2012, the congregation amalgamated with those in Hamilton, London, and Peterborough into one charitable corporation under the name Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada by the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Act, a Private Act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario which received Royal Assent on June 13, 2013.
Custodial history
Scope and content
This series contains records created and accumulated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Pembroke, Ontario during their mission in Peru which was focused on providing education and healthcare. There are also records from activities after the mission officially concluded, such as anniversary celebrations, lay volunteers traveling to Chincha Alta, and the activities of the Peruvian Sisters and Associates. Some records include information on natural disasters and political and social events in Peru during the Sisters’ mission. There are also records related to the charitable and religious organizations the Sisters collaborated with while in Peru and the establishment, activities, and future planning of the Peruvian Sisters of St. Joseph and Associates. Associates are lay people who participate in the Sisters charism but do not take religious vows. There are historical summaries, reports, personal accounts, correspondence, blueprints, architectural drawings, a map, contracts, financial records, mission evaluations, meeting minutes, news clippings, newsletters, publications, pamphlets, event programs, booklets, video recordings, statistics, and photographs.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
These records were accumulated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Pembroke, Ontario.
Arrangement
Original order based on function was maintained with accruals arranged at the end of appropriate subseries by the archivist.
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Script of material
Location of originals
The records are located at The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives.
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Restrictions on access
File 50-0035.2 Federation Internationale Roncelli project 2000 and series 50-0036 Finances are restricted due to containing confidential financial records. The Archives reserves the right to restrict access to the collection depending on the condition of the archival material, the amount of material requested, and the purpose of the research. The use of certain materials may also be restricted for reasons of privacy or sensitivity, or under a donor agreement. Access restrictions will be applied equally to all researchers and reviewed periodically. No researcher will be given access to any materials that contain a personal information bank such as donor agreements or personnel records, or to other proprietary information such as appraisals, insurance valuations, or condition reports.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Permission to study archival records does not extend to publication or display rights. The researcher must request this permission in writing from the Archives.
Finding aids
Series and file list available.
Associated materials
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
General note
The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Pembroke, Ontario had a mission in Peru focused on providing access to education and healthcare. Though the mission formally closed in 2005, the Sisters, now part of the amalgamated Congergation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada, continue to support charitable efforts in the area.
In 1964, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate expressed a desire for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Pembroke, Ontario to collaborate on apostolic endeavors in Chincha Alta, Peru. Mother St. Thomas (Mary) McGaghran and Sister Mary Desmond (Clare) Gallagher traveled to Peru to get a sense of the project. On April 17, 1964, nursing Sisters Mary (Emma) Varney and Hedwig (Edna) Prince left Canada with Kevin Blacquiere, a lay volunteer and teacher, to provide education and healthcare in Peru. The Sisters arrived in Chincha Alta on May 7, 1964, to a three-bedroom apartment above what would become their first clinic.
On November 2, 1964, the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, the Sisters opened the medical clinic, Clinica San Martin, in Chincha Alta which they continued to operate until April 1970. A second medical clinic, Clinica Tom Dooley, was opened January 1, 1966, in Chincha Baja and operated until 1969. After three years of living in the small apartment above the Clinica San Martin, the Sisters built St. Joseph’s Convent on a vacant lot next door to the Parish.
On September 19,1964 teaching Sisters Callista (Nora) Kelly, Edna (Teresa) Rice, and Christina (Maria) Mousseau left Canada for Peru with two Oblate priests. Once the teaching Sisters settled, they began an all-boys parish school, Colegio San Jose, in Chincha Alta on April 1, 1965, though the official opening of the school was not until November 28th. Sister Edana later formed Club Maria Goretti, a recreational and athletics club for teenage girls. The club evolved to include religious, social, and educational activities. In 1966, due to the requests of the local community, the parish school welcomed girls to attend as well. The Sisters also taught English to adults and began offering home-making classes to women in Chincha Alta in March of 1970.
While on mission in Peru, the Sisters participated in the parish catechetical programme which operated out of the school and a mission chapel. Together with the priests and twelve young catechists, around 500 children received instruction. By 1966, the catechetical program expanded to five centres across the parish.
The Sisters also served as administrators of churches and attended to social needs within the parishes, hosted retreats, operated a family integration program (also referred to as Marriage Encounters), taught evening classes for adults to learn English, and sought to animate Christian communities. While in Peru the Sisters worked closely with the Damas, a committee of women who made the altar beads and looked after the vestments and altar linens for the Church of Our Lady of Fatima. The Sisters also assisted in the operation of a Caritas Centre where they distributed food and clothing to those in need under the “Food for Peace” program.
On May 31, 1970, the Ancash earthquake hit Peru. With no damage done to the area the Sisters worked and lived in, an Oblate priest drove all the remaining medical supplies from the recently closed Clinica San Martin, as well as food and clothing, to the areas effected by the quake. Unfortunately, the Lima earthquake on October 3, 1974, heavily damaged Chincha Alta. The Sisters worked with lay leaders in the community to assess the needs of those within the parish and aided where they could.
The Sisters continued their work across Peru, though their focus was primarily on the Chincha Valley. In 1976, Sister Constance Lacroix began working in Comas with the leadership program of Family Orientation of the Parish Lord of the Miracles. In 1977, Sisters assisted in the creation of Christian communities in Chincha Baja where anyone could come to experience religious life or to go on a spiritual retreat. These communities were called the House of Mary Immaculate and the Servants of God. The Sisters were also involved with local movements and began working with Fraternidad de los Enfermos, a movement for people with physical handicaps, in 1978. In 1979, the Sisters began working in Pueblo Nuevo as well.
Renovations to expand St. Joseph’s Convent in Chincha Alta began in 1980 and a novitiate was opened in 1982. In January 1989, the Pembroke Sisters hosted an Assembly of all the Sisters of St. Joseph working in Peru at Colegio San Jose in Chincha Alta.
In 1984, seven women became Associates (Co-Hermanas) of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Pembroke in Peru. This meant that they would serve the Lord without making any formal vows and had their own Statues. Five more women joined in 1985. Over the years the Associates collaborated on the administration and fundraising for a home for the aged, the scholarship program, liturgical tasks, social assistance, first aid, ministry to the sick and aged, and in the welcoming ministry of Bethany House in Pueblo Nuevo. In 1983, the Congregation gifted $10,000 for the building of a home for the aged in Chincha Alta which opened in 1997. The Associates opened a mission in La Calera, Peru, in 1990.
Throughout their endeavors in Peru, the Sisters often collaborated with other religious communities besides the Oblates. In February 1973, Pembroke Sisters traveled to Aucayacu with two Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception of St. John, New Brunswick to provide healthcare and education to the Peruvians there. Pembroke Sister Rosario went off on a mission to Antabamba with the Sacred Heart Sisters in 1994.
The Peru Mission formally closed in 2005, but the Sisters continued their charitable efforts in the Chincha valley, particularly with supporting educational scholarships and distributing food and clothing to those in need through the Caritas Centre. The Sisters also supported other charitable projects in the area, such as health and water projects and relief efforts after natural disasters, such as the 2017 mud slide. As of 2024, Sisters María Choquez and Gloria Muchypiña, continue the charism and work to assist the people of Chincha Valley. Sister Pauline Coulterman, who lived and worked in Peru for 23 years, continues to raise funds for Peru in Canada. Sister Pauline invited Canadian volunteers to visit Peru for two weeks to assist with the many projects the Sisters are involved in.
General note
Some content within this record group contains language which may be offensive, derogatory, or harmful. This language does not reflect the values of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada.
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By Rhiannon Allen-Roberts, 2024