Charles Nerinckx

Religious leader, born in Belgium. Ordained in 1785 and forced underground after the French Revolution, he emigrated to the USA (1804) and became a missionary in the wilderness frontier of Kentucky. Zealous and accused of excessive rigorism, he co-founded the Sisters of Loretto (1912), imposing on them a stringent rule of life.

Rev. Charles Nerinckx was a missionary priest in Kentucky, and the founder of the Sisters of Loretto religious order.

Nerinckx was educated at the Catholic University of Leuven and upon completion of his theological training at the Theoological seminary of Mechelen was ordained a priest in 1785.

Nerinckx came to the United States in 1804, Bishop John Carroll assigning him to assist Rev. Word of Nerinckx’s efforts the Holy See, who sought to appoint him Bishop of New Orleans, but Nerinckx refused the honor.

With a focus on Catholic education, Nerickx founded of the Sisters of Loretto in 1812. Nerinckx also founded the first congregation of black women religious in America in 1824. Nerinx Hall, a private secondary school for girls, was founded by the Sisters of Loretto in 1924 in Webster Groves, Missouri, in his honor.

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia, so may be out of date, or reflect the point of view of the Catholic Church as of 1913. It should be edited to reflect broader and more recent perspectives.