« Present in our time » : this has been the motto of the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph throughout their history. Attentive to the needs of their time, always ready to relieve suffering, they devoted themselves tirelessly to large and small healthcare establishments, particularly hospitals and nursing homes.
From their very beginning, in the 17th century, the Religious Hospitallers have also responded to the needs that arose by welcoming and educating orphans. Subsequently, they became involved in teaching at all levels of education and opened nursing schools. Furthermore, culture, the arts, music, and singing have always been considered activities to be promoted.
The Religious Hospitallers were present in their time, especially in difficult times: revolution, wars, epidemics, and sometimes insurmountable challenges. They have had to fight to ensure the survival of their works, in one country or another. But they fulfilled their mission to their brothers and sisters in all places and at all times, without distinction of race, language, or beliefs.
Among other things, they have been present in remote regions, ministering to the First Nations through concrete means: in 1916, in Polson, Montana, the founding of the first American hospital to provide integrated care serving the Blackfeet Nation; collaboration of the Hôtel-Dieu de Cornwall in Ontario with the Akwesasne First Nation; and, finally, training of health promoters among the Quechuas and the Secoya in the Peruvian Amazon in the 1970s.
Today, the mission continues as evidenced by the commitment made by the Religious Hospitallers during the holding of the 2021 General Chapter:
Together, energized by our spiritual heritage, with a hospitable heart and open to the world around us, let us humbly share who we are: A community of women committed to following Jesus for the promotion of life, universal fraternity and care for the most vulnerable.