Sisters, Servants of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Peru, 1922-2000
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Schools of Mission Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Peru, 1922-2000 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree Doctor of Philosophy © Copyright All Rights Reserved By Annette M. Pelletier Washington, D.C. 2013 Schools of Mission: Sisters, Servants of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Peru, 1922-2000 Annette M. Pelletier, PhD Director: Catherine Dooley, PhD The first permanent mission of the United States Catholic Church in South America was a Catholic private school established by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) in Lima, Peru, in 1922. The IHM Sisters of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sent four sisters to Lima in response to the invitation of Emilio Lisson Chávez, CM, Archbishop of Lima. Cardinal Dennis Dougherty agreed to Lisson’s request to find a religious community of women to teach in a school that the archbishop promised to provide. The IHMs, a diocesan congregation of educators at the time, was elected. The success of Protestant mission schools among the Catholic population of Peru prompted the archbishop of Lima to provide an alternative to the American- style education where instruction in English and a modern curriculum prepared Peruvians of all social classes, especially in Lima, with a modern progressive education. The IHM sisters told the story of their experience of mission in their correspondence, diaries, annals, and reports. Their words and actions reflect attentiveness to the challenges of the new ecclesial context.
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