The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity are a Congregation of Roman Catholic apostolic religious women. The congregation was founded in 1869 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, later part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. The sisters have active apostolates in education, health care, spiritual direction, and other community ministries. As of 2021, there are 188 sisters in the community. The FSCC is a member of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, an organization which represents women religious in the United States. History The origin of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity dates back to 1854 when Father Ambrose Oschwald led a party of German immigrants from Baden to the United States to establish a Catholic community in America. They founded St. Nazianz, Wisconsin, August 27, 1854, named after St. Gregory of Nazianzus. In 1865, newly ordained Rev. Joseph Fessler was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish, Clarks Mills. Fessler was one of the original members of the community at St. Nazianz. In June 1866, he brought Teresa Gramlich, of St. Nazianz, to Clarks Mills to begin teaching catechism classes to the children of Immaculate Conception Parish. In 1866, Rev Joseph Albrecht, a friend of Fr. Ambrose Oshwald, of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood from Ohio visited St. Nazianz in Wisconsin with fifteen sisters of the Precious Blood congregation. When Fr. Albrecht's group left for Minnesota in September 1867, three sisters of the Sisters of the Precious Blood, Sisters Mary Ann Graf, Josepha Thoenig and Rosa Wahl remained in St. Nazianz. These three sisters joined Teresa Gramlich in Clarks Mills in 1867 and began their postulancy for a new religious community forming under the direction of Fr. Fessler. Teresa, and Sisters Mary Ann and Rosa were then sent to Milwaukee to study with the School Sisters of Notre Dame under the direction of Mother Caroline, the founder of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in America. In June 1868, Fr. Fessler was transferred to St. Boniface in Manitowoc, Wisconsin as pastor and he made a request to Bishop John Henni of Milwaukee to approve a request for the sisters to form a Franciscan religious congregation. Bishop John Henni approved the request in 1869. Sisters Mary Ann, Josepha, and Rosa along with Teresa moved to Manitowoc where a combination convent and school building had been constructed for the congregation. On