Item 20 - Fr Thompson to Bishop: Marriage annulment requested

A priest, Louis Marie Eugène Bautain in 1842 founded the Institute of St Louis in Juilly, outside Paris. The Institute was approved by Rome in July, 1844, but by 1850, the priests disbanded, leaving the sisters remaining in the order. In 1859, the first Irish foundation was established in Monaghan, and two years later, they separated from France on the orders of their Bishop. For the next few decades, the Irish and French Institutes expanded separately across Ireland and France. In 1903, the first Belgian foundation was established by the French Institute, and in 1912, the first English foundation was established from Ireland. By the end of the second world war, numbers had declined significantly in the French Institute, and in 1952, it amalgamated with the St Louis Institute in Ireland.

The first St Louis missions outside of Europe began in the middle of the 20th century, to Ghana in 1947, Nigeria in 1948, and California in 1949. In 1978, a mission from California was established in Brasil. The most recent mission was established in Benin in 2001 by the Sisters of St Louis in Nigeria.
see https://www.stlouissisters.org/ (accessed 14-5-2019)