Religious Teachers Filippini
The Religious Teachers Filippini (abbreviated as M.P.F. from the Italian: Maestre Pie Filippini), known also as the Sisters of St. Lucy Filippini, or simply the Filippini Sisters, is a Catholic religious institute devoted to education. They were founded in Italy in 1692 by Saint Lucy Filippini and Cardinal Marco Antonio Barbarigo.
History
Barbarigo was the Bishop of Montefiascone and was a bishop who worked in the spirit of the reforms of the Council of Trent to provide a moral and human reform to his society. He was aware of the deep ignorance among the poor and was seeking to find a way of bringing up their level of manners.
Barbarigo came to hear of the success of a free school opened by St. Rose Venerini in the nearby city of Viterbo, the first in Italy. He invited Venerini to come to his diocese to establish similar schools. She accepted the invitation and arrived in Montefiascone in 1692, where she spent the next two years establishing schools throughout the diocese. Having established 10 schools, she was called back to her own diocese, and left the school building project to St. Lucy Filippini, who built the Religious Teachers Fillippini into an international order.
The Teachers operate schools, hospitals, orphanages, and other ministries in Italy, Albania, Brazil, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.