Society of the Sacred Heart

The Society of the Sacred Heart (Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) is an international Roman Catholic religious congregation for women established in France by St. Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1800. Members use the suffix "RSCJ" which stands for Religieuses du Sacré Cœur de Jésus or Religiosa Sanctissimi Cordis Jesu or Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It has a presence in 41 countries.

They should not be confused with the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM), another teaching order of sisters.

Madeleine Sophie Barat founded the Society of the Sacred Heart in the wake of the French Revolution to provide educational opportunities for girls. The manner of life was to be simple without the prescribed austerities of the older orders, which would be incompatible with the work of education. In some houses the religious conducted just one school, but in several places, especially in the larger houses in cities there were at least two schools, a boarding school and a school for poor children. The first convent was opened at Amiens in 1801. Other houses were opened in Grenoble, Poitiers, Niort, and Cuigniers. In 1826 the society obtained the formal approbation of Pope Leo XII and the first cardinal protector was appointed. Barat remained superior general of the Society from 1806 until her death in 1865. The Society of the Sacred Heart quickly expanded within Europe and beyond.

In 1818 Rose Philippine Duchesne first brought the Society to the Americas, establishing the first free school west of the Mississippi in St. Charles Missouri. The Society opened institutions of higher education for women in Cincinnati; Grand Coteau, Louisiana; Lake Forest, Illinois; New York; Torresdale (a suburb of Philadelphia), Pennsylvania; Omaha; St. Louis; San Francisco; Seattle; Newton, Massachusetts; and San Diego.

In 1842 the Society came to England in 1842, founding a girl's boarding school at Elm Grove in Roehampton. The school evolved into the teacher training school Digby Stuart College. The Sisters have been involved in education since and founded schools around the country, most of which are no longer directly run by the order but are under its trusteeship or the diocese. In 2004 Digby Stuart College federated with three other local colleges to become the University of Roehampton. The England and Wales province are largely centered in Roehampton where it maintains two houses. The Barat House community consists of a group of RSCJ sisters and university students who live in the community house in the grounds of Digby Stuart College. The Duchesne House is also a registered care house for elderly sisters and its community play an active role in the pastoral care of pupils at the nearby Sacred Heart Primary School.

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