The Sisters of St. Joseph in New Orleans

I’ve been affiliated with the Sisters of St. Joseph for over ten years now as a member of the Advisory Board to School on Wheels.  SOW is an ESL program originated by the CSJ Congregation in LaGrange Park, IL.  The Sisters of St. Joseph was founded in 1650 in LePuy, France. There are approximately 14,000 members worldwide: about 7,000 in the United States; 2,000 in France; and the remaining in fifty other countries.

The Sisters first arrived in the New Orleans area in 1854, when they established a convent in Bay St. Louis, MS, located about 60 miles northeast of New Orleans.  (Coincidentally, Bay St. Louis is where Stephanie did her Katrina volunteering during her high school years.)  The Sisters arrived in New Orleans proper in 1863.

The contemporary Sisters had a compound on Mirabeau Avenue in New Orleans, consisting of a mother-house and two other buildings.  The Sisters used all of the buildings until August, 2005 when the entire first floor of all three buildings flooded after Katrina. The buildings were gutted and cleaned, but sustained significant damage in June 2006 from a fire resulting from an apparent lightning strike.  Engineering consultants recommended that the severely damaged buildings be torn down.  In the spirit of the Sisters’ commitment to the environment, all of the slabs, and the concrete and bricks from the buildings, are to be recycled.  A combination green space and landscaped garden is hoped to be created on the property.

The sisters who are ministering in the New Orleans area are currently living in homes or apartments in the Mid City area.  Perhaps the best-known CSJ in New Orleans is Sister Helen Prejean, a leading advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.  Her story was the inspiration for the film Dead Man Walking.  Susan Sarandon won an Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Sister Helen.