All Saints Sisters of the Poor

The All Saints Sisters of the Poor were founded in 1851 at All Saints Margaret Street in London. That well-known church was built as a sign of the vigour of Anglo-Catholicism ministry: it was the most expensive church built during the reign of Queen Victoria in a very, at that time, poor quarter of London. To compliment this ministry the Parish Priest Fr William Upton and Mother Harriet founded the All Saints Sisters of the Poor. From Margaret Street the sisters spread not only in this country but also abroad. (The sisters left Margaret Street some years back)

Since 1872, a community was formed in Baltimore, USA. On Thursday, the feast of St Gregory the Great, ten of the twelve nuns with their chaplain will be received into the Roman Catholic Church by the archbishop of Baltimore.

Having spent seven years in prayer and discernment, the sisters felt drawn to Roman Catholicism due to its orthodoxy and unity.It was noted that many of them were troubled by recent changes in the Episcopal church, including the approval of women's ordination, the ordination of a gay bishop and other "lax" stances on moral issues.

The Mother Superior said: "People who did not know us looked at us as if we were in agreement with what had been going on [in the Episcopal church]; by staying put and not doing anything, we were sending a message which was not correct."

Two nuns who decided not to become Roman Catholic will nonetheless continue to live with the community and work together with their religious sisters.

The nuns dedicate themselves to prayer, giving retreats, visiting people in hospice care, and designing religious cards.