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The Hospitaller family is present in more than 85 public health centers located in 25 countries, uniting humanity and science for the most needy

On a day like today, 143 years ago, the congregation of the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded. Our founders, St Bendict Menni, María Josefa Recio and María Angustias Giménez were chosen by God to respond to the situation of health neglect and social exclusion of women with mental illness at the time. Two criteria guided the beginnings, and continue to be fundamental in the practice of hospitality: charity and science.

 

Under the umbrella of hospitality, word that defines the heart of the congregation, we have been providing service y professionalism to people who suffer. Annually, we help nearly 820,000 people embrace their illness and suffering, and to find meaning in their pain. We provide comprehensive assistance to the reception, care and rehabilitation of patients with mental illness and psychiatric disability. Our attention is a human encounter that prioritizes the dignity of each person.

We are a vast and diverse family, united by the value of hospitality: together with more than 12,547 collaborators and volunteers; and about 900 Sisters, in more than 85 public health centers located in 25 countries, we unite humanity and science, offering a quality care service.

We are a Catholic religious congregation of women, passionate about life, and united by love, prayer and service. We want to carry the evangelizing message of Jesus as the Good Samaritan and Mary as the first Hospitaller through the testimony of our action, configuring an integral project of assistance to the most vulnerable.

A CENTURY-OLD HISTORY

The Congregation of the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded on 31 May 1881 in Ciempozuelos-Madrid (Spain), by St. Benedict Menni, a priest of the Order of St. John of God, together with the Venerable María Josefa Recio and María Angustias Gimenez.

Open to the spirit, they were chosen by God to respond to the situation of health neglect and social exclusion of women with mental illness at the time. Two criteria guided the beginnings, and continue to be fundamental in the practice of hospitality: charity and science.

The early days were particularly difficult. It was a project of great magnitude: to respond to the abandonment of the sick and the lack of adequate public health care, which was especially striking in the case of people with mental illness, children with bone malformations, scrofula, tuberculosis, and other ailments, reduced to marginality and abandoned to their own fate.

St. Benedict Menni, the Venerable María Josefa Recio, María Angustias Giménez and an initial group of eight sisters dedicated themselves to respond to this neglected sector of society. This is how the feminine face of hospitality is offered.

The lack of means, economic resources and assistance could only be compensated by the generous dedication of the sisters and the invaluable help of collaborators, benefactors and volunteers. Today this work of the Spirit is growing and expanding in Europe, America, Africa and Asia. The mission and the founding spirit of the Congregation are still valid and necessary to collaborate in an inhospitable world, in favor of the most disadvantaged people.