The  Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, with central administrative offices in Syracuse, N.Y., and the Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale, Pa.  announced the merger of their congregations A ceremony of incorporation was celebrated at 3:30 p.m., Sunday, August 26 at Immaculate Conception Church in Fayetteville, N.Y. and at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, September 30 at the Motherhouse chapel of the Sisters of St. Francis in Millvale.

The newly formed congregation will represent 564 sisters who serve in the ministries of education, healthcare, pastoral care, the missions, social services and retreat work in 33 dioceses and archdioceses around the world, including Hawaii, East Africa, Peru, Puerto Rico and Canada. In addition, it brings together 274 women and men known as Franciscan associates who share in the sisters’ spirituality and mission. The Sisters of St. Francis in Millvale will continue to be based at Mount Alvernia, 146 Hawthorne Road in Pittsburgh, Pa.

“We welcome a new day by merging with the Sisters of St. Francis and strengthening our ability to faithfully fulfill our mission of proclaiming the Good News to the poor in the Franciscan tradition,” said Sister Ann Carville, community minister of the Sisters of St. Francis in Millvale. “We look forward to continuing to be a vital part of the Pittsburgh region and beyond.”

The five-member Millvale Franciscan Servant Leadership Council will serve until January 2008, with Sister Marian Rose Mansius, general councilor of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in Syracuse serving as liaison to the Millvale community through June 2008.  At their July 11 through 20, 2008 General Chapter meeting, delegates representing the community at large will chart the direction for the

congregation and elect members to the general administration.

The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities were officially founded on July 12, 2004 when the Sisters of St. Francis of the Immaculate Virgin of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., the Sisters of St. Francis Third Order Regular of Buffalo (Williamsville Franciscans), and the Sisters of the Third Order of Syracuse, N.Y. united to form the new congregation. This marked the first union of Franciscan congregations in the U.S.

These three communities together with the Millvale Franciscans grew out of the same Philadelphia congregation that Sister Mary Francis Bachmann, Sister Mary Margaret Boll and Sister Bernardina Dorn founded with the guidance of St. John Neumann (then Bishop of Philadelphia.) in 1855. In response to the needs of the times, small groups of sisters traveled to Syracuse and Buffalo, and in 1865 two sisters traveled to Pittsburgh to serve the sick and poor, especially the German-speaking immigrants. Eventually four additional communities were formed, creating the Neumann-Bachmann Heritage communities.  “In essence, the merger is a reunification of the family since we all began from the same historical roots,” said Sister Patricia Burkard, general minister of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in Syracuse.

To strengthen their mission, the two congregations developed a Spirit-led process of discernment that invited all their members to discussions and multiple inter-congregational meetings in New York and Pittsburgh. They addressed the questions of identity, mission, governance, membership, individual talents and needs and appropriate ministries.

In April 2007, the Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale secured the personal commitment for merger from each sister. The official Decree from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome approving the merger of the two congregations was signed on June 29, 2007. “The merger will promote the sisters’ abilities to be responsible stewards of their ministries, resources, gifts and energy,” said Sister Patricia.