Sisters of St. Francis

05/20/2026

Announcement and information from Franciscans International members who attended the 30th UN Climate Conference in Brazil. Here is the link to their summary which emerged from the discussions.

01/10/2024

More about the sale of our building:
To Whom It May Concern:
The Sisters of St. Francis of Savannah, MO are announcing the availability for sale of their former Provincial House. We welcome the opportunity to share this flyer with you.
Here is the description:
The Convent property is located in northwestern Missouri in the town of Savannah in Andrew County approximately 12 miles north of St. Joseph, MO and 45 miles north of the Kansas City, MO and MCI airport. The Convent building is a one-story approximately 28000 square foot building with a partial basement that sits on primarily vacant rolling land. There is a large storage shed and existing gardens to the south of the main building.
The Convent’s construction was completed in 2010. The building was constructed according to handicap accessible guidelines. There are 14 large bedrooms with bathrooms, a two bedroom two-bathroom guest apartment, and a one bedroom chaplain’s apartment. In addition there is a large kitchen with walk-in freezer and refrigerator, a large dining room with seating for 20—25 and a Chapel with seating for 35. There is a large recreation area with kitchenette which also has a small library alcove. In addition to the living area of the Convent, there is a large Conference room and kitchenette which has been used for public gatherings. The room seats 150. There are three smaller meeting rooms adjacent to this area, and public bathrooms.
Geothermal wells provide heating and cooling to the building. Solar panels on the roof provide energy for heating water. The basement, located under the bedroom area only, provides storage area, protection from storms, and houses the HVAC equipment.
For pictures of the property, we invite you to visit our FACEBOOK sites: Sisters of St. Francis, Savannah, MO and the Mother Pia Ministry Center. You may also like to visit our website listed below.
www.sistersofstfrancis.org
If interested in the building, please contact:
Sr. Christine Martin 816-324-3179

We, the Sisters of St. Francis of Savannah, Missouri, believe that the Holy Spirit has gifted us and continually blesses us with a charism in the service of the Church. We identify this charism as a joyful simple spirit, founded on a prayerful dependence on God, which frees us to witness God's love....

01/10/2024

As most of our followers know from our newsletter, the Sisters of St. Francis are selling our beautiful Convent building and property after 13 years of residence. We ask for your prayers for a suitable buyer and also for God's wisdom and guidance for our future. Please be sure to share the flyers with any group that you think might be interested.

01/06/2024

Here is our Chapel now ready for the Epiphany. A wonderful friend suggested that we move the creche into the sanctuary, so we did. We like this change too!

01/09/2022

Those who wish to share in the Funeral Mass of Sister Kathleen can watch on this page. The Mass is at 11:00 A.M. on Wednesday, January 12th and regretfully can't be made open to the public otherwise. Therefore we are offering it virtually, courtesy of the monks of Conception Abbey. If you come to this page it should be visible.
Eternal Rest grant unto her O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace.

12/25/2021

The Sisters of St. Francis want to thank all who have prayed so fervently for the healing of Sr. Kathleen. The Lord has answered our prayers, but not with physical healing and a return to us. Sr. Kathleen passed away Christmas Eve at 8:36 P.M. We believe her complete healing is happening even now and that she is with the Lord. Please pray for her and all who loved her, especially her religious community.

11/15/2021

Good News!
Good News! We Sisters of St. Francis of Savannah, MO are thanking God, the office of Congressman Sam Graves and the people of Savannah and Northwest Missouri for their help in assisting us with the immigration case of Sr. Winfred Kilatya, OSF. We recently heard from our lawyer at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network that our first application, the I360, has been approved. We now must immediately apply for the second part of the green card, the I485, but we want all of you to know that we are most grateful for all the assistance, the writing of letters, and the many prayers and well wishes. We are especially grateful to Congressman Sam Graves and his office staff who worked diligently on Sr. Winfred’s behalf. We ask God to bless all those who have advocated on our and Sr. Winfred’s behalf and have prayed so faithfully for her. It means so much to us! What a wonderful answer to prayer! Sr. Winfred also wants to express her thankfulness. Although she would have liked to visit her parents and family, having not seen them for six years, she is relieved that she will not be forced to leave her vocation here. She looks forward to the successful conclusion to her quest of obtaining a green card so that she can continue serving God and God’s people. Please continue to pray for us until that happens!

08/23/2021

Dear Friends and Relatives,
I am writing you today to inform you about a situation we Sisters of St. Francis are facing. Many of you know Sr. Winfred Kilatya who is a young Sister who entered our novitiate in 2017 and professed vows in 2019. During her time with us we have carefully followed all the immigration procedures for religious worker documentation and utilized the Catholic Legal Immigration lawyers recommended by our U.S. bishops. Despite "doing everything right" we have now been told by our lawyers that Sr. Winfred will have to exit the country and be gone from us for one year (or possibly longer). This is due to the backlog at USCIS (immigration services). We applied for the I-360 which is the first step in obtaining a green card sixteen months ago. We are told that the process of approval for that document is taking 26 months at the present time, (formerly nine to 12 months). Since that means she will have no legal status when her R-1 visa expires, she will have to exit the country. As you can imagine this is upsetting for her and for us. We need Sisters! You might wonder what you can do to help us in this situation. First, we would appreciate your prayers. Secondly we would ask you to write your legislators - specifically on her behalf, but also in general. The U. S. has already lost many foreign priests and Sisters because of the immigration processing backlog due to Covid and other causes. Thank you for any and all help you can give us!

03/31/2021

Kudos, Today Show! Our good friend Sr. Jeanne Christensen, RSM, has worked for many years! Thank you for sharing!

Tens of thousands of brave Catholic sisters are fighting human trafficking head on, often putting their own lives on the line. As part of our Keeping the Faith series, NBC’s Cynthia McFadden tells the story of strong women who have been working mostly in the shadows until now.

03/22/2021

As you know we are part of a congregation, the Franciscan Sisters of Vocklabruck in Austria. This is our Sisters and co-workers dancing the Jerusalem Dance at our hospital in Braunau, Austria. Enjoy!

Das Warten hat ein Ende!Hier ist er, pünktlich zum Josefitag, der Beitrag des Krankenhauses St. Josef Braunau zur „Jerusalema Tanz Challenge“.Die Mitarbeiter...