August 10, 2026

Dear Friends and Family,

As we write this letter, our hearts are filled with both gratitude and trust in God's loving providence.

We have recently been informed that the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has made the decision that our community will not be considered for approval as an institute of diocesan right, now or in the future. There were unintended formational issues that surfaced as a result of our being a relatively new community. Our dear Bishop has taken care to share these concerns of the Dicastery with us. As a result of that new information and after much prayer, discernment, and consultation, Bishop Fernandes has made the difficult decision to suppress the Children of Mary as a public association of the faithful. Although this decision is a sorrowful one to accept, we receive it in a spirit of faith, humility, and filial obedience to the Church we love.

This decision means that the Children of Mary will come to an end as a community, in October 2026. While that reality brings deep sadness to all of us, we remain confident that God does not abandon the work He begins. We have witnessed His grace in countless lives through this apostolate, and we trust that the seeds He has planted will continue to bear fruit according to His perfect plan. The friendships formed, the lives touched, and the love of Christ shared through the Children of Mary will endure in ways known fully only to God. As we each continue to discern the path the Lord now sets before us, we do so with confidence that He is faithful and that His providence never fails.

This decision may seem abrupt, but much has transpired up until this point. Although the life of the Children of Mary as a community is coming to a close, our gratitude for your friendship and support will never end. Please know that we will continue to remember all of our supporters in our prayers with deep affection. We humbly ask that you also pray for each of us as we entrust our future to the Lord and continue to seek His holy will with generous and faithful hearts.

The Blessed Virgin Mary has always taught us to trust without reservation, especially when the path ahead is hidden. Like her, we desire simply to say, "Let it be done to me according to your word." Confident that God brings good out of every circumstance for those who love Him, we place ourselves into His loving hands, trusting that His plans are always greater than our own.

Thank you for believing in us, for praying for us, and for walking with us throughout these years. May the Lord reward your generosity abundantly, and may Our Lady keep you always beneath the mantle of her maternal love continually enkindling the fire of love for Jesus Eucharistic in you.

With heartfelt gratitude and the assurance of our prayers,

The Children of Mary

August 10, 2026

I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus. As the Bishop of the Diocese of Columbus, I have oversight or vigilance over parishes and Catholic institutions in the Diocese, including association of the faithful. This duty or responsibility is an important one to ensure that ecclesiastical discipline is upheld and that the rights and dignity of the faithful are respected.

The Children of Mary were founded over 25 years ago. I have known them throughout my time as a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and as the Bishop of Columbus. They have carried out their apostolic works throughout the diocese and beyond, especially in fostering devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and in their prayer for priests. The Children of Mary are a public association of the faithful in the Diocese of Columbus, established in the Diocese with a view to being erected as an institute of diocesan right.

As a relatively new community, the Children of Mary have attempted to reform and refine their Constitutions; to clarify their specific charism; to achieve clarity with respect to ownership of assets; and to provide formation for the members of the community. Desiring to become an institute of diocesan right and acting in good faith, the Sisters provided the necessary documentation to the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life to begin the process. Despite the best efforts of the Sisters, these reforms proved difficult.

Additionally, over the past few years, certain formation issues and even abuses associated with the evangelical counsels and the right of separation of the internal and external forum, that is the forum of one’s personal conscience and the forum of the observable, external actions, have been brought to my attention.

After sincere attempts at addressing these issues and keeping the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome informed, I was informed by an official at the Dicastery that even with the attempted reforms, because of the formational issues in communal life from its inception and the persistence of these issues, the Children of Mary would not now or in the future be approved for erection as an institute of diocesan right, which would have offered members greater stability and assurance of perpetual spiritual and physical care.

Knowing this would not be possible and recognizing that some of the women in the Children of Mary may have an authentic vocation as a consecrated religious in an order recognized by the Church, I determined that suppression was the only option so that the members could discern their vocations in a new association or institute or in the world.

Such a suppression is neither common, nor rare, in the Church. It is more deeply felt when it occurs locally and among people we know personally. Please keep them in your prayers and trust in the movement of the Holy Spirit confirming that “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” (1 Sam. 16: 7)

With every best wish, I remain,

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