Our History
The Franciscan Sisters of Allegany were founded in 1859 by Very Rev. Fr. Pamfilo da Magliano to teach the young women and children of Allegany, NY. Our co-foundress, Rev. Mo. M. Teresa O’Neil, was the third woman to receive the habit from Fr. Pamfilo. In the beginning, the sisters taught at the local school, and they ran a boarding school for young women out of their own convent. Within twenty years, however, the sisters were called to expand their ministry beyond teaching and beyond the United States.
Very Rev. Father Pamfilo da Magliano, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and first president of St. Bonaventure University.
Storytime at St. Bonaventure’s Town School, Allegany, NY, c. 1959.
Reverend Mother M. Teresa O’Neil, co-foundress of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, c. 1910
In 1879, the Allegany Franciscans were invited to absorb a ministry in Kingston, Jamaica, into their congregation. Bolstered by their success in Jamaica, the sisters continued to expand their ministries into the Southern Hemisphere. In 1946, Allegany Franciscans arrived in Brazil to serve as teachers and nurses in the country’s interior. In 1965, the sisters established a similar ministry in the Bolivian jungle. And in 2021, three Allegany Franciscans arrived in Mozambique. In every country, the sisters have served as educators, healthcare workers, and pastoral ministers.
The Allegany Franciscans had already established themselves as skilled teachers when, in 1883, they were offered ownership of a struggling hospital in Brighton, Massachusetts. The sisters accepted the challenge, and they soon earned a reputation for providing excellent care to any patient. The Allegany Franciscans went on to establish and administer multiple successful hospitals in the United States and Brazil, some of which continue to provide care today.
Football practice, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. Buffalo, NY, c. 1959.
Sister Loretto Mary Ballou, OSF, prepares a slide at St. Francis Hospital, Miami Beach, FL, c. 1959.
In 1989, the Allegany Franciscans established the Associate Program to connect more deeply with laypeople who wish to live the Franciscan charism. Today, the Associate Program consists of multiple groups in the United States, Brazil, and Jamaica, each of which endeavor to serve their communities in the tradition of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany.
Sister Rita Frances Guarasci (left), and Sister Virginia May with the people of Mapiri, Bolivia, September 1966.