Who We Are
Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
The Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd is an international religious congregation within the Catholic tradition, often known as the Good Shepherd Sisters. The vision and mission of the Congregation are based on the Gospel message of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and the foundations of social justice. Expanding on the vision of St. John Eudes from 1641, the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd was founded in France in 1835 by St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier to assist women and children most in need.
Across the world for almost 400 years, we have been providing courageous and compassionate services to girls, women, and children to assist them in overcoming situations of disadvantage.
Drawn by Love, Passionate for Justice
Our Mission
Our Vision
Our Values
Drawn by Love, Passionate for Justice
Our Mission
Energized by our evolving understanding and experience of God’s love, we build relationships and partnerships that promote the dignity and human rights of all, especially girls, women, and children. In solidarity, we work to bring about reconciliation and the transformation of unjust systems, the flourishing of humanity, and the integrity of all creation.
Our Vision
We envision a new way of living that celebrates the inter-connectedness of all God’s creation. Embracing inclusivity and respecting, honoring, and protecting the dignity and diversity of all life, we strive to create a universal culture of justice.
Our Values
Our work and way of life are guided by our values of Zeal, Dignity and Respect, Compassion and Mercy, Reconciliation, Justice and Solidarity, Transparency and Accountability, Empowerment and Advocacy, Participation and Collaboration, and Good Stewardship.
Sisters and Partners in Mission
The Congregation is enriched by the presence of apostolic sisters, contemplative sisters, and partners-in-mission who express the call to the mission in their own style of life in different ways. Together, we are all mission partners working to forward the mission.
Apostolic Sisters
Our apostolic sisters spread the message of justice and reconciliation through their lives and ministries. They are involved in education and training, social services, advocacy and awareness raising, spiritual and pastoral care, prison ministry, residential care, youth development, and many other outreach programs that support and empower those on the margins of society, particularly vulnerable girls, women, and children.
Contemplative Sisters
Our contemplative sisters bear witness to the absolute primacy of God and seek to be instruments of reconciliation through their prayer, evangelical asceticism, solitude, and silence. The contemplative sisters are the spiritual lungs of the Congregation; through their prayer, they support those directly involved in the mission.
While the contemplative sisters keep sacred space to nourish their relationship with God, they seek to understand how they can be a visible presence and a sign of God’s immediacy and care.
Partners-in-Mission
Mission partnership has played a very active part in establishing and expanding the mission from the very earliest days. Today, our partners-in-mission are the staff, volunteers, benefactors, board members, associates, companions, etc., who choose to accept co-responsibility to work collaboratively to forward the mission.
The Congregation envisions the full engagement of partners-in-mission and works to strengthen these relationships based on the Universal Culture of Justice with attitudes that invite all partners to embrace equality, collegiality, and a shared experience of mission that will evolve out of a deepened relationship model of being together.
Drawn by Love, Passionate for Justice
Our Mission
Our Vision
Our Values
Our Purpose, Mission and Values
Drawn by Love
Responding to a personal vocation rooted in the transformative power of love, sisters and partners-in-mission embrace service driven by a profound love for others motivated by compassion, mercy, and the inherent dignity of life in all its diversity.
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