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The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, formerly the Sisters of St. Francis of the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin, announced April 26 that they will close Immaculate Conception Convent on Jackson Avenue in Hastings-on-Hudson. The building, housing 35 sisters, is closing due to the declining number of sisters.
The sisters will be moving either to The Wartburg Adult Care Community in Mount Vernon or to Villa St. Francis in Peekskill, depending on their individual need for care. Sisters will remain in their current ministries as well as continuing in prayer and presence in the archdiocese.
The congregation is studying the possibilities for future uses of the building and the 7.5-acre property, including the Franciscan Retreat Center.
Sister Lorraine Wesolowski, O.S.F., executive director of communications for the congregation, told CNY that no date has been set for the convent’s closing. “The process for how this will take place is just beginning,” she said.
The sisters have been at Immaculate Conception Convent since the 1950s. At one time the building was home to approximately 100 sisters who served in various capacities in the Archdiocese of New York. The sisters are known for their ministry at Mount Loretto on Staten Island, one of the largest child-care facilities in the city. They currently sponsor Nazareth Nursery Montessori in Manhattan and St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers in Poughkeepsie. Sisters also minister in a variety of capacities in the archdiocese in education, pastoral care and health care.
The sisters in Hastings-on-Hudson are part of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities. The new entity was formed in 2004 through the union of three autonomous Franciscan congregations in Hastings-on-Hudson, Syracuse and Williamsville.
