FRANCISCAN SISTERS OF CHRIST THE KING. — They were founded in 1459 in Venice, near S. Francesco della Vigna, by Maria Benedetta of Savoy-Carignano and Maria Angelica Canal, as tertiaries dedicated to the education of young women of the Venetian aristocracy. After the Napoleonic and Italian suppressions, the Congregation refused to disband and expanded its activities to include missionary work. In 1928, with the cooperation of Fr. Leonardo M. Bello, who prepared their new constitutions, it resumed new life under its current name.
The institute, spread throughout Italy and East Africa, has 55 houses with 500 sisters engaged in various works: schools, workshops, orphanages, clinics, etc.
BIBL.: A. Berengo Monte, L'istituto delle suore F. di C. R. primordi alla soppressione napoleonica, in Le Venezie fran-cese, 4 (1935), pp. 68-84. Alberto Ghinato