The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth were founded in December 1812 in Bardstown, Ky., shortly after that frontier diocese was established. In 1822 the congregation bought a 400-acre farm several miles from Bardstown, which became the permanent Motherhouse called Nazareth. The Sisters and Associates are committed to education, pastoral and health care, and social services ministries in Belize, Botswana, India, Nepal, Nicaragua and the United States. Concerned about the lack of basic education for children and orphans in Charleston, Bishop John England founded a religious community in 1829 named the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. As the congregation grew and moved into missions in Georgia and North Carolina, the congregation adopted the rule of St. Vincent de Paul and changed the name to Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy in 1949.
Sisters continue to serve the poor through ministries in education, health care and social services.
The Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth were founded by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley, a nephew of Elizabeth Seton, in 1859. Today its members serve from Alaska to El Salvador, in classrooms, shelters, corporate boardrooms, courts, and operating rooms. The traditional ministry of education has evolved as urban schools have changed to respond to the needs of new people in an ever-changing environment. In 1817 Elizabeth Seton sent three Sisters from Emmitsburg, Md., to New York to serve the rapidly growing Catholic immigrant population. Through the efforts of Bishop John Hughes, the congregation became a diocesan community in 1846.