Franciscan Missionaries of Mary

The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) are a Catholic women's religious institute founded in 1877 in Ootacamund, British India, by Helene de Chappotin de Neuville, known in religion as Mother Mary of the Passion, originally to provide medical care to women restricted by purdah practices from being treated by male doctors. The congregation adopted the Rule of the Franciscan Third Order Regular in 1885 and grew into a centralized religious institute of pontifical right representing 77 nationalities across 74 countries on five continents, with roughly 5,000 members recorded in 2024, making it the fifth largest women's religious institute in the Catholic Church; its work expanded from medical care into education and broader social service, and seven of its members were canonized in 2000 as Martyrs of China, killed during the Boxer Rebellion. It is headquartered in Rome under Superior General Sister Eufemia Glenny.