ST. LOUIS — The Ursuline Sisters of four regional U.S. provinces elected the leadership team for the Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union, United States Province, during a chapter of elections meeting held July 9-13 in St. Louis. The new United States province is being formed through the merger of the four provinces into one.
Sister Diane Fulgenzi, OSU, a native of Springfield, was elected provincial leader. Sister Diane is a graduate of the former Ursuline Academy in Springfield. She has been on the leadership team of the Ursuline Sisters of the Central Province since 1999 and served as their provincial leader since 2008. She now lives in St. Louis, where the provincial offices of the new U.S. province will be located.
Five provincial councilors also were elected: Sister Ann Barrett, OSU, of St. Louis; Sister Dianne Baumunk, OSU, of Santa Rosa, Calif.; Sister Margaret Johnson, OSU, of Moscow, Idaho; Sister Ann Peterson, OSU, of New Rochelle, N.Y.; and Sister Maureen Welch, OSU, of Wilmington, Del.
The election was the culmination of the three-year reconfiguration process that brings together Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union from four provinces in the central, eastern, northeastern and western regions of the country into a single United States province.
More than 160 Ursulines from across the country participated in the July meeting. The newly elected leadership team will be installed when the United States province is inaugurated Oct. 21, the feast of St. Ursula, the patron saint of the Ursuline Sisters. The event will be held in Chicago.
The Ursuline Sisters were founded by St. Angela Merici 475 years ago in Brescia, Italy. They established their first North American community in Canada in 1639. The first Ursulines in the United States arrived in New Orleans in 1727. Today there are Ursuline Sisters serving on six continents.
Historically known as educators, Ursulines continue to minister in educational institutions on every level. They also are involved in parish and retreat/spiritual direction ministries and in social service fields with outreach to immigrants, the dying, elderly, homeless and other disenfranchised populations.
New website
In addition to new leadership, the Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union, United State Province has a new Web site, www.usaosu.org.
On this site former students and friends of the Ursulines can catch up with sisters whom they have known through the years, learn more about the sisters’ lives and ministries, join Ursulines in celebrating milestones, request prayers, get to know sisters from throughout the country, and follow the new U.S. province.