MISSIONARIE FRANCESCANE DELL'IMMACOLATA CONCEZIONE. - A religious institute founded at Belle Prairie, Minnesota (U.S.A.), by Sister Ignazia di Gesù in 1873. The sisters are chiefly engaged in the education of youth in schools and carry out their apostolate in parishes and in behalf of the children of Italian immigrants.
The Institute, which has spread to the United States, Egypt, Ireland, and Australia, was approved by the Holy See in 1923 and today numbers 42 houses with more than 700 religious.
BIBL.: L'Istituto delle M. F. dell'I. C., Rome 1939. Silverio Mattei