Discover the purpose behind Sisters Hospitallers, our history and how it still drives our work nowadays.
The Congregation of Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded in Ciempozuelos (Madrid, Spain) on May 31st, 1881.
The Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus CIO is a Charity committed to the sick and their wellbeing, especially for those living with mental disabilities.
Benedict Menni, together with María Josefa Recio and María Angustias Giménez, founded Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1881. Their goal was to combine charity and science to provide treatment to those with no-one else to turn to.
Today, Sisters Hospitallers is present in 27 countries across Europe, America, Africa and Asia.
This love of charity knows no limits and knows not when to say stop. This love wishes to fly from one place to another and wrap its arms around the entire planet
St. Benedict Menni (1841-1914)
Our Canonical Province of England is part of Sisters Hospitallers. Our mission is to bring hospitality to people in need, primarily in the field of mental health.
This Province, therefore, is composed of care homes and health centres in England, Ghana and Liberia. Our Charity in the UK supports and finances our centres and hospitals in Africa. Find out more about our centres.
The assets of the English Province in the UK are held by a charitable trust. the Charity is governed by a trust deed dated 31 December 1967, as amended by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 13 January 2003. The Charity Registration Number is 119857
Under the Charities Act 2011 are the trustees of the Charity.
Mental Health Patients at Monrovia, Liberia
Resident at Footherley Hall Care Home, England
Sisters Hospitallers’ in Dompoase, Ghana
Discover the faces behind our history.
Benedict Menni entered the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God in 1860. Subsequently, he changed his baptismal name Angel Hercules to Benedict.
He studied philosophy and theology, first in the Seminary of Lodi and then in the Roman College (Gregorian Pontifical University of Rome). He became priest in 1866 and, after that, Pope Pius IX entrusted him with the complex mission of restoring the extinct Hospitaller Order in Spain. Once the Order was restored in Spain, there followed similar restorations in Portugal at the end of the 19th century and in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century.
Benedict Menni was a man of inexhaustible charity with exceptional leadership skills. Above all, during his life he created 22 large centres, including homes for people in need, and general and psychiatric hospitals. His remains are in the Mother House in Ciempozuelos, Spain.
María Josefa Recio (1846-1883) was born in Granada, Spain. She became widowed at the early age of 33 and, as a result, dedicated her life to serving and caring unselfishly for those in need.
That is to say, that she left her hometown together with her friend, María Angustias, to start what would later become Sisters Hospitallers’ mission.
María Angustias Giménez (1849-1897) was born in Granada, Spain. She was always a woman of great spiritual sensitivity, with a strong religious belief of mercy and goodness.
She met María Josefa Recio in 1871. After that, they decided to move to Madrid to start their religious life following Benedict Menni’s vision.