07/18/2005 Era comes to end for nuns of All Saints convent Sisters have served in Oakland and Hayward, are being relocated to other Bay Area locations “To seek out the poor, the sick and needy, and undertake any charitable work. Their chapel is the parish church. Their cloister the streets of the city After 14 years of renting the church’s E Street convent, Sister Curry’s religious order is relocating the six sisters remaining in Hayward to convents in Daly City, San Jose and Linwood.
Dozens of nuns have lived in the two-story convent since the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, founded in France in 1634, first leased the building in 1991.
In this age of individualism and materialism, when long-term commitment is a challenge many people are not willing to accept, “our whole thrust is service to God and for the poor,” said Sister Marion Bill, superior of the Hayward convent, of the 27,000 members of the worldwide Daughters of Charity.
The departure of the largely middle-aged and elderly nuns marks the end of an era at All Saints, a landmark church in the Hayward foothills which was under construction when the 1906 earthquake struck.
It will be the first time in 57 years that All Saints will not have religious women in residence, said Stephen Mullin, parish life director.
