Our Mission & Ministry

We are a community of Catholic women religious who live, worship and minister in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. As our charism mandates, the School Sisters of St. Francis continue to adapt to the needs of the times in our mission to serve the poor and otherwise needy — whether it be in education, health care, religious education, social work or community service.

Here are just a few activities we are able to continue with the generous support of our donors and friends:

  • Our Sisters in Bethlehem, Pa., have pioneered the Monocacy Farm Project to provide healthy, low-cost food options for the community.

  • Our Franciscan Resource Center in Pittsburgh, Pa., welcomes all for spiritual programming and direction in the spirit of St. Francis.

  • Our Antonia Lampel Scholarship Fund makes it possible for young people in the communities where we serve to have affordable access to Catholic education.

  • Our Sisters work toward alleviating poverty, environmental issues and the human trafficking epidemic in our country. This includes our annual spring food drives to address food insecurity among our neighbors.

  • Several Sisters continue our 111-year tradition of education, excelling as teachers to children of all ages.

  • Our vocation team is active in the community, nurturing an interest in religious life among youth and single Catholic women.

  • Our Sisters serve church communities by ministering in religious education, working with troubled teens, visiting the sick, and overseeing burial and committal services.

  • Our retired and infirm Sisters remain actively involved in prayer ministry, accepting prayer requests from around the country for friends like you.

  • Our Provincial Administration continues to address the changing needs of the times, including the very real retirement needs of our aging Sisters and the future of our community.

Our Sisters in Action

  • We work in schools as teachers, administrative assistants and office aides.

  • We work in social services, helping the elderly, children, families and the impoverished.

  • We serve in parishes and churches as directors of religious education, pastoral administrators and diocesan liaisons.

  • We minister in health care and elder care as nurses, patient aides, and activities directors.

  • We minister in such varied environments as adult day care, schools for adults with special needs, prison ministry, vocations and missionary work.

  • We administrate and lead retreats and innovative programs at St. Francis Center for Renewal.

  • We serve full-time in internal ministry as leaders, office workers, building managers, historians, archivists and more to keep our congregation running on a daily basis.

  • Even when retired or infirm, we remain active in prayer ministry and general community service.

We Are Many & One

The video below — Many & One — highlights the Sisters throughout our United States Province as they serve in the world and in our community.

provincial administration

Sister Marian Sgriccia
Provincial Minister

Sister Mary Xavier Bomberger
Provincial Vicar

Sister Bonnie Marie Kleinschuster
Provincial Councilor & Treasurer

Sister Patricia Ann Mahoney
Provincial Councilor & Secretary

our mission

Our primary mission is to glorify God by extending Christ’s Kingdom and living in holiness. Our specific mission is to minister to the needs of our neighbor through teaching and other ministries, according to the needs of the time.

our charism

The charism of the School Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, rooted in the Franciscan penitential tradition of Gospel living, is intimate union with God in the midst of apostolic service. In the spirit
of Franciscan poverty expressed in the simplicity and humble dedication of our communal life, we minister through Christian formation, education, and development of the total person. Responding to the signs of the times and to the needs of the Church, we, as faithful servants of the Church, joyfully minister to the poor and otherwise needy.