Our Beginnings

“Francis, Go, Repair My house, Which As You See Is Falling Completely To Ruin!”

This spoke Our Lord Jesus Christ from the Crucifix in the Church of San Damiano to Saint Francis of Assisi, who took Our Lord’s words quite literally, and with his own hands rebuilt San Damiano and St. Mary of the Angels. But Our Lord was speaking of the whole Church,  which St. Francis did rebuild with his tremendous zeal for the love of Christ.  Franciscan zeal helped to reinvigorate the Church with love for Our Lord Jesus Christ, particularly in the Blessed Sacrament.

“What The Franciscans Did Once, They Can Do Again!”

Thus spoke our founder, Father Eugene N. Heidt. The clear need for traditional Catholic teaching sisters inspired the foundation of the Franciscan Sisters of Christ the King. Father Heidt, working with the Society of St. Pius X in Oregon, recognized the need for teaching Sisters who would help staff SSPX schools. He was drawn to the Franciscan heritage by the close link between Franciscan
spirituality and “good Catholic sense.”

“God Writes Straight With Crooked Lines.”

These were the words of Fr. Heidt to our foundress, Sister Mary Herlinda McCarty, O.S.F., when she told him that she was too old to help found a new
community. As he was searching for a founding sister “who knew how to pray,” Father Carl Pulvermacher O.F.M. Cap. recommended Sister Herlinda as one of the finest Sisters he had ever known. With Fr. Heidt and Fr. Carl encouraging her, she agreed to help the new community.

Under the direction of the Society of St. Pius X district superior, in 2000, Fr. Heidt, assisted by Mother Herlinda and the first postulant, the future Mother Mary Joseph, founded The Franciscan Sisters of Christ the King. He put into place the 1927 Rule of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis approved by Pope Pius XI.

The Move From Oregon To Kansas City

Father Heidt kindly moved out of his own house to provide shelter for the fledgling community. He very quickly needed to find more room for the Sisters and rented a second house a mile away, and then a third location, a nearby mobile home, which he borrowed as the community grew again.  Making do is a good Franciscan tradition, but these arrangements were not conducive to community life. In 2002, Father Heidt and Mother Herlinda had the foresight to purchase a convent in Kansas City, close to the District House of the Society of St. Pius X.  This structure was built in the 1940s as a Benedictine Convent and then became a home for unwed mothers. After a brief time as a charter school, it was left empty.  After the arrangements were made to purchase the building, our Sisters made the trip to Kansas City in waves, some driving and some flying. We have remained in this building in Kansas City ever since, teaching at St. Vincent de Paul Academy and training new Sisters in the novitiate.