In 1836, several French nuns established hospitals and schools here and in California. Today, an effort is afoot to keep the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange alive. At the Aquinas Institute of Theology, a small Roman Catholic graduate school next to St. Louis University, doctors, administrators and health care leaders take courses on Bible interpretation; Jesus, church and the healing ministry; and the foundations of morality. As the number of nuns and priests who established Catholic hospitals slowly dwindles, lay leaders across the country are increasingly taking their place.
