Among the followers of Saint Francis was a group of six brothers from the Archdiocese of Tuam in Ireland, who requested permission from the bishop of the Pittsburgh diocese, to bring their dream, rooted in Francis' vision, to fruition in the Americas. Arriving in this country in 1847, they were eventually to establish a house of their order "near the town of Loretto," thereby fulfilling the dream of Demetrius Gallitzin, recorded in a letter to Archbishop Marechal almost twenty-five years earlier, that "...a college, seminary, and all that is required for an episcopal establishment' one day be built on the land where Saint Francis University now stands.
Like Francis, who had himself left the comfort and security of his family’s home and station, traveling “on a missionary journey…, sowing everywhere the seed of salvation and reaping an abundant harvest” (Bonaventure, Major Life: 6), the founding brothers left family and country to forge a new community of faith and prayer in Loretto.
*All content adapted from Stewards of the Vision