Congregation of Jesus

400 Year Hope Fulfilled

The sisters of the former 'Roman Branch' of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, founded by the Yorkshirewoman Mary Ward, received permission from the Vatican to change their name to the Congregation of Jesus, after waiting nearly 400 years. Mary Ward founded a pioneering religious order for women in 1609, after the model of the Society of Jesus, yet independent from it. The name of Jesus expressed the identity and charism of this new venture for women in the history of the Church. Neither the name nor the role for women were acceptable in her day, and the group she founded was suppressed in 1631, Mary Ward herself being imprisoned for heresy.

Despite the spread of the order, it never had an official name until the 19th century, being known by friends as 'English Ladies' or the 'Institute of Mary' and by enemies as 'Jesuitesses' or 'Galloping Girls'. The Irish and North American branches of the order amalgamated in 2003 under the name IBVM Loreto. Shortly after, the Roman branch of Mary Ward's Institute adopted the full text of the Jesuit Constitutions, and with them the name of Jesus, at last fulfilling the vision of Mary Ward.