- July 1, 2026 Social Justice, Sister Stories
For 190 years, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet have lived by one conviction: love and serve the "dear neighbor without distinction." In St. Louis, that conviction has been expressed through nearly two centuries of intentional, boots-on-the-ground commitment to the Black Catholic community of this city.
On June 7, the St. Louis province was honored for this conviction with the Torch Bearer Award by the St. Charles Lwanga Center in St. Louis at their 42nd Annual Testimonial Dinner, held at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel. The Lwanga Center, a ministry of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, promotes Catholic teaching, Catholic spiritual formation and leadership development, including advocacy for justice and racial equity concerns within the Black Catholic community.
The Torch Bearer Award recognizes St. Louis leaders and organizations who are deeply committed to uplifting and collaborating with the Black Catholic community through Christian values, advocacy and solidarity. Honorees actively create spaces to honor Black Catholic history while championing true allyship and community support.
In 1845, the sisters opened St. Joseph's School for the Colored at Third and Poplar, the first school in St. Louis dedicated to educating Black children, both free and enslaved. When mobs attacked the building, the sisters held their ground. The CSJs were at St. Vincent’s School and opened a “Colored Department” while the Missouri law was still on the books that made it illegal for Black people to read and write from roughly 1854 to 1863.
In 1937, they staffed St. Joseph's High School for Colored, the first Black Catholic high school in St. Louis. In 1955, Sister Barbara Moore became the first African American to enter the congregation, and in 1965, she was among the Sisters of St. Joseph who marched in Selma, Alabama, answering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s call. The Carondelet Consolidated Archives house the full Sisters of Selma documentary collection and launched SistersofSelma.org to preserve that witness for generations.
Across North St. Louis, the sisters’ presence was vast. At one time they had staff or teachers at nearly every Catholic elementary school in North City, including Holy Rosary Parish School, St. Matthew the Apostle School (now part of St. Peter Claver Parish), Holy Name of Jesus, Nativity of Our Lord, Cathedral Grade School, St. Edward, Central Catholic (now St. Nicholas), Most Holy Trinity School (now part of St. Josephine Bakhita Parish), Holy Angels, Blessed Sacrament (Bishop Healy School) parish and others. Sisters served in pastoral ministry in parishes throughout the North Side, including St. Matthew the Apostle (now St. Peter Claver Parish), St. Bridget of Erin (now St. Josephine Bakhita Parish), St. Barbara and Most Holy Trinity (now St. Josephine Bakhita Parish).
They ministered to patients at Homer G. Phillips Hospital; worked on racial justice issues through the Archdiocesan Commission on Human Rights; provided services and guidance to countless teenagers through northside parishes; walked alongside women in prostitution through the New Lifestyle Program; and staffed the Northside Community Center, delivering meals to seniors and connecting families to critical resources.
The sisters' partnership with the St. Charles Lwanga Center runs to its very foundations. During the era when Sister Thea Bowman and the "Lead Me, Guide Me" hymnal were awakening Black Catholic identity nationwide, CSJ sisters worked at the Center, bringing that spirit to North City parishes through Crossroads retreats serving 22 Black parishes, liturgical training and theological programming. In 1990, the Lwanga Center and CSJ sisters co-sponsored the North Area Choir's historic trip to Rome. That spirit of shared mission continues through the Lwanga Center's cultural immersion pilgrimage, organized and led by the Center to explore Black and Catholic history to Mobile and Montgomery; followed by the CSJ-led pilgrimage to Selma, Alabama, and Mississippi. Through the CSJ social justice ministry's book discussions, presentations and educational gatherings, sisters, associates and partners in mission walk alongside the Lwanga Center's work of honoring Black Catholic ancestors and building authentic allyship.
The sisters also co-founded the Center for Women in Transition (now Keyway: Center for Diversion and Reentry), providing trauma-informed services to women in the criminal justice system, disproportionately women of color; and co-founded the St. Joseph Housing Initiative (now the St. Joseph Housing Institute), creating pathways to homeownership for families in underserved St. Louis neighborhoods.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet receive the Torchbearer Award with humility and gratitude, knowing this relationship has always been mutual. The Black Catholic community of St. Louis has shaped and evangelized the sisters as profoundly as the sisters have served.