Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Province includes sisters, associates and `ohana all rooted in following the call of the Spirit and service of the dear neighbor.

In 1870, seven sisters from St. Louis left everything they knew and journeyed to Tucson, Arizona to start a school at the request of the newly appointed bishop there. This arduous trip took 36 days. But even after this difficult journey, the sisters did not rest once they arrived. You can read the diary of Sister Monica Corrigan, one of the women who made the trek, to find out more about their journey. The Tucson area celebrated 152 years of ministry in 2022. They honored the sisters who have spread our charism of unifying love and the associates who also continue the mission in the Tucson area.

In their first 10 years, the sisters expanded what they named the Western Province to include two other cities in Arizona and three in California. In 1900, the provincial house designation was moved to Los Angeles, and the name of the province was changed to reflect the move.

A pencil or charcoal drawing of the first seven sisters arriving in Tucson in 1870 in their long black habits. They stand in a line approaching a priest and a dog in a dusty desert town square with wooden buildings and a church in the distance. Townspeople are looking on from the periphery. — An artist’s drawing of the first seven sisters arriving in Tucson in 1870.

Over the years, the Los Angeles Province has expanded to include sisters, associates and `ohana living and ministering in California, Idaho, Hawai`i and Japan. Each new community brought new relationships and cultural understandings.

As the number of sisters decreased in Hawai`i and Japan in the 2010s, each vice province made the courageous decision to ask to merge with the Los Angeles Province. This merger would help the sisters in Japan and Hawai`i concentrate on what they do best, ministering in their communities and focusing on how best to serve the dear neighbor.

Sisters and St. Joseph Workers protest human trafficking in Los Angeles

The ministries of our sisters are always rooted in offering a presence of unity and reconciliation to all those we meet. Our early sisters focused on healthcare and education. Today, we continue to serve in those and a much wider array of ministries, including social work, immigration, prison, food justice, housing and spiritual ministries.

Our sisters, associates and `ohana are dedicated to social justice, engaging in both internal and external work to address our complicity in oppressive structures. We do this individually and collectively in our province and ministries and by collaborating with other organizations and our partners in ministry. Our main focus is on understanding and addressing systemic oppression within race, immigration and the environment.

Our commitment to justice is nourished by the Sisters of St. Joseph spirituality, which has Jesuit roots from one of our founders Fr. Jean Pierre Medaille, SJ. Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet engage in a practice called State of the Heart, which finds God in all things by sharing with one another the answers to questions like: “Where has God been in my life in the past week?” “What is the state of my heart?” and “How was my heart led because of this experience?” In this way, we can be contemplatives in action.

The Oral History project of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet is a research project of Mount Saint Mary’s University’s CSJ Institute and Department of Film & Television Studies. These videos are used for students’ training, education and inspiration. MSMU was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.