A Book Review by Ben Lariccia
It’s fitting that we have Thomas Welsh’s latest local history title as a guide for celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Ursuline Sisters in the Mahoning Valley. This is an order that traces its start to the ministry of Angela Merici, born in 1474, in the Lombardy region of Italy.
In his new publication, the popular author unfolds yet another fascinating piece of the Youngstown story. The Ursulines, his subject, have enriched our area beyond what many residents, non-Catholics and Catholics, may know. “The Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown: Serving the Mahoning Valley since 1874” combines well-researched history with remarkable in-depth interviews with insightful religious and laypeople. Along the way, the reader encounters institutions, parishes, schools, and neighborhoods, many of which no longer exist but whose memories still stir the heart.
The arrival in 1874 of six Ursuline Sisters from Cleveland to Youngstown’s St. Columba’s begins this 221-page release from the History Press. The steel industry was taking off and the city’s population boomed with the arrival of new immigrants, many of them Italian Roman Catholics. Ethnic factionalism appeared within the Church over questions of rituals and leadership, as clergy and laity from Northern Europe for the first time encountered Italians and eastern Europeans. Moreover, among the general public, anti-Catholicism was easily detectable. These complications challenged the early years of this new religious order of women. Nonetheless, the Ursulines would eventually overcome the trials of the period to expand their vocation to educate youth.
As a measure of the sisters’ success in this area, Youngstown could boast of a Catholic high school and 11 parish schools staffed by the nuns by 1920. In the late 1960s, the world was beginning to change rapidly. Sadly, rapid deindustrialization disrupted traditional patterns of religious life and reduced financial support of Catholic education in Youngstown. Neighborhoods suffered the consequences of white flight and shortsighted urban renewal. At the same time, the Second Vatican Council opened for the Ursulines new ways of looking at the world and a rich opportunity to reassess the influence of their order in the changing environment.
Stirred by developments outside the Church and within, the sisters responded by searching for discernment that would guide them in the coming years. One of the most intriguing sections of the book details the depth of that self-examination: how it changed the order’s orientation by drawing inspiration from founder St. Angela Merici’s own fervent call to serve those in desperate need of help.
The result of the reflection was a planned and thoughtful move away from educating the dwindling numbers of parochial school children toward answering the specific needs of the poor and marginalized. Reenergized by their founder’s vision, the sisters began staffing and even developing new social services. Ursuline nuns provided care, and still do, for single mothers and those living with AIDS. A sizeable number of the nuns became active in the peace and civil rights movements. In the face of decreasing numbers of sisters a second flowering of the order is taking place that includes laypeople, men and women. This last part of the book will captivate readers wondering about the Ursulines’ future.
No matter one’s own spiritual background, this new title is a very rewarding read that positions Youngstown as the setting for the local nuns’ remarkable story of service. Importantly, the book dispels stereotypes that have little to do with the role of religious women in today’s world. In fact, it reveals the sisters’ growing leadership in the Youngstown Diocese. As the Ursulines joyfully light 150 birthday candles on their anniversary cake, let’s join them in celebrating their many accomplishments.
