Filmmaker Morgan Atkinson released a new documentary, "In the Company of Change," focusing on the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville. This film explores shifts in U.S. culture and religious communities through the life of the late Ursuline Sister Martha Buser. Atkinson previously made a documentary about the Ursuline Sisters in 1987, titled "A Change in Order," which covered the impact of 1980s cultural shifts on the order. The Ursuline Sisters will host a public screening of the new documentary on March 8, coinciding with Catholic Sisters Week and International Women’s Day.
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Louisville filmmaker Morgan Atkinson released "In the Company of Change" in September, his second documentary on the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville.1
It follows his 1987 film "A Change in Order" and uses archival footage to explore shifts in U.S. culture and religious life.1
The film centers on the late Ursuline Sister Martha Buser, whom Atkinson met during his first project and who became his spiritual director and friend until her death in 2023.1
It traces her spiritual evolution from 1980s interviews to later ones, amid the congregation's decline from nearly 600 members in 1949 to fewer than 40.1
Founded by St. Angela Merici in 16th-century Italy as the Church's first teaching order for women, the Louisville Ursulines trace roots to German sisters arriving in 1858.1
Atkinson portrays them as role models of perseverance, staying true to vows despite cultural challenges.1
The Ursuline Sisters plan a public screening March 8, 2026, kicking off Catholic Sisters Week (March 8-14) and International Women’s Day, with a reception featuring Atkinson.1
A preview event occurred August 7, 2025, at their original motherhouse.1
View the film on PBS via Kentucky Educational Television or Vimeo.1
It honors Sister Buser, the congregation, and Atkinson's own spiritual growth, with Atkinson also known for Thomas Merton documentaries.1
Examine how Ursuline Sisters reflect Catholic Church’s adaptation to modern America
The Ursuline Sisters exemplify the Catholic Church's adaptation to modern America through their establishment of educational and charitable institutions amid waves of immigration, anti-Catholic prejudice, and rapid societal changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By founding academies, parish schools, orphanages, and hospitals across U.S. dioceses, they responded to the needs of immigrant Catholics while fostering evangelization and cultural integration, aligning with the Church's directives for religious to adapt their apostolates to contemporary circumstances.
The Ursuline Sisters arrived in various U.S. dioceses during a period of intense Catholic immigration and Church expansion, demonstrating adaptability by transplanting their European charism—rooted in education and care for the vulnerable—to the American frontier and industrializing cities.
This expansion reflects immigrant Catholics' "great expense and sacrifice" to build institutions like schools and convents, compensating for economic disadvantage and Protestant resistance, thus nurturing a "vibrant Catholic culture" in America.
Education was central to the Ursulines' mission, adapting to America's emphasis on public schooling and immigrant assimilation by providing Catholic alternatives that "orient the whole of human culture to the message of salvation."
This mirrors Vatican II's call in Perfectae Caritatis for religious to "adapt [ministries] to the requirements of time and place," maintaining educational works while employing "new programs" suited to modern culture.
Beyond education, Ursulines adapted to urban poverty, orphans, and the marginalized, embodying the Church's response to America's industrial growth and social upheavals.
Pope Paul VI urged religious to adapt apostolates to "modern conditions," opening "outwardly toward the great spiritual necessities," under superiors' vigilance. John Paul II noted U.S. religious' "admirable dedication" to the poor and marginalized post-Vatican II, despite challenges like vocation declines and secularization.
The Ursulines' work prefigures and embodies post-Vatican II renewal, where religious balance fidelity with adaptation. Perfectae Caritatis mandates re-editing customs to fit "modern physical and psychological circumstances" and apostolic needs. John Paul II praised U.S. bishops' dialogue with religious for "dynamic communion" in particular Churches. Amid changes like smaller communities and new needs (e.g., refugees), Ursulines shifted from large institutions to flexible responses, preserving the "missionary spirit."
Ursuline Sisters reflect the Church's adaptive genius in modern America: from frontier academies combating prejudice to educational-charitable networks amid immigration, evolving per Vatican directives to meet contemporary exigencies. Their legacy underscores religious life as a bridge between tradition and evangelization, fostering holiness amid change.