To mark the 400th anniversary of Mary Ward’s foundations, the Diocesan Women’s Commission invited Sr Patricia Harriss CJ to speak on ‘What happened to Mary Ward’s vision?’ at our AGM on 28th March in English Martyrs hall, York.

Sr Patricia outlined for us the essence of Mary’s vision: an order of women free of enclosure and able to respond flexibly to the needs of the Church, in the manner of the Jesuits. This vision was resisted by the hierarchy of the time, but survived through the dedication and courage of Mary and her followers, both in England and on the Continent.

Over time, ecclesiastical and political developments meant that life in the Institute became codified and the focus on flexibility and mobility was lost; the Institute everywhere became a semi-monastic order running girls’ schools. For 200 years after Mary’s death, the Institute did not officially exist, but by the mid 19th century, moves initiated by the English members were made to rectify this and in 1877, approval was finally given by Rome. Mary was officially recognised as founder in 1909.

In the wake of Vatican II, a revisiting of Mary Ward’s original vision led to a resolve to seek approval for the Ignatian Constitutions as intended by Mary Ward, and a reappraisal of the Institute’s spirituality to include flexibility, the discernment of new ministries, and open-ended mission, in the style of the Society of Jesus. In 2003, the full Constitutions, appropriately ‘laicised’, were granted.

Today, Mary Ward’s followers live out her vision in many different ways: in spiritual direction; in working for the rights of women and of tribal peoples in India; among the Amazon peoples in Brazil; in Cuba, and in Outer Mongolia. For Mary Ward, the vision was always primarily about following God’s will, however that presented itself, and the flexibility that this requires is very much to the fore among her followers today.

For historical reasons there are two orders that claim Mary Ward as their founder: the Congregation of Jesus and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM Loreto). There is also a Mary Ward Association, a gathering of lay people attracted by Mary Ward’s spirituality and seeking to apply it in their own lives.