The Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity is a Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 religious congregation for women.

History

The international congregation was founded in 1835 in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 by Mother Magdalen (Catherine) Damen . In 1874, the first three missionary sisters, accompanied by General Superior Mother Aloysia Lenders, arrived in Buffalo, New York. There are now ten provinces, with the central administration in Rome, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Provinces

• St. Francis Provincehttp://www.stfrancisprovince.org/ - Redwood City, California, USA
• Sacred Heart Provincehttp://www.marycrest.org/ - Denver, Colorado, USA
• Holy Name Provincehttp://www.franciscans-stella-niagara.org/ - Stella Niagara, New York, USA
• Province of Divine Providence - Heythuysen, Netherlands
• Christ the King Provincehttp://www.franziskanerinnen-luedinghausen.de/ - Ludinghausen, Germany
• Mary Immaculate Provincehttp://www.nonnenwerth.de/Start/alle/index.php - Nonnenwerth, Germany
• St. Clare Mission - Tanzania
• Holy Trinity Province - Indonesia
• Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary Provinces - Brazil
• Generalate - Rome, Italy