Sisters of Loreto

Loreto Sisters
The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Abbreviation	I.B.V.M.
Formation	27 September 1609
Type	Catholic religious order
Headquarters	Casa Generalizia Di Loreto
Location	Via Massaua 3, Rome, Italy;
Superior General	Carmel Swords, I.B.V.M
Key people	The Venerable Mary Ward, Frances Mary Teresa Ball
Parent organization	Roman Catholic Church
Staff	703
Website	Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The congregation takes its name from the Marian shrine at Loreto in Italy where Ward used to pray. Ward was declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 December 2009.^[1] The Loreto Sisters use the initials I.B.V.M. after their names.

Although education was its primary work, today the congregation is engaged in a wide variety of ministries: literacy programmes, spiritual direction, counselling, managing shelters for homeless women as well as several aspects of the movement for greater justice and peace in the world. The Loreto Sisters operate some 150 schools worldwide, educating over 70,000 pupils.

^ "Roberts, Tom. "Mary Ward Named 'Venerable'", National Catholic Reporter, 21 December 2009". Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2012.

[1] "Roberts, Tom. "Mary Ward Named 'Venerable'", National Catholic Reporter, 21 December 2009". Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2012.

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