1964年，天主教高雄教區鄭天祥主教鑑於高雄地區逐漸發展成國際港口城市，對外語專業人才之需要日益迫切，亟需推展大專教育，遂邀請聖吳甦樂會至高雄籌辦外語學校；1965年三月本校籌備處呈文教育部申請設校，同年十二月召開首任董事會，推選鄭天祥主教為首任董事長，首屆董事會董事為于斌、賈彥文、王愈榮、申露德、林綺雲、秦愛梅、吳甦樂、王撫洲、龔士榮、王曉風、宋稚青、甘亨孫。1966年，本校奉教育部核准設立「私立文藻女子外語專科學校」，開辦英國語文、法國語文、德國語文及西班牙語文四科。董事會聘請王撫洲先生擔任首任校長。

1980年依教育部指示招收男生，更名為「私立文藻外國語文專科學校」，1999年升格為「文藻外語學院」。

2013年8月1日起奉核改名為「文藻外語大學」。

自1995年第十屆董事會起，聖吳甦樂會因應台灣高等教育轉型之需要，邀請天主教基督服務團加入董事會參與決策性校務規劃，共同經營本校。

Brief History and the Development of Wenzao

In 1964, Bishop Joseph Cheng, O.P. of Kaohsiung Diocese invited the Sisters of the Roman Union of the Order of St. Ursula to a establish a language school in Kaohsiung since it had developed into an international harbor city. In March 1965, the preparatory office of the school submitted its application to the Ministry of Education (MOE). The first meeting of the board of trustees, of which the members were: His Eminence Cardinal Paul Yupin, Rev. Matthew Kia Yanwen, Rev. Joseph Wang YU-Jung, Sr. Marie de Lourdes Simons, osu., Sr. Teresa Lin, osu., Sr. Augustine Zing, osu., Sr. Ursule Blot, osu., Mr. Fuzhou Wang, Rev. Joseph Kung Shi-Rong, sr. Fidelis Wang, osu., Rev. Thomas Sung Zhiqing, csjb., Mr. Hengsun Gan, was held in December of the same year, and Bishop Joseph Cheng, O.P. was elected as the first Chairperson of the board. In 1966, the MOE approved the establishment of “Wenzao Ursuline Junior College of Modern Languages for Girls,” consisting of English, French, German, and Spanish Departments. The Board of Trustees then invited Mr. Fuzhou Wang to be the first President.

In 1980, Wenzao admitted boys at the invitation of the MOE. Then the school’s name was changed to “Wenzao Ursuline Junior College of Modern Languages.” In 1999.was officially upgraded to "Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages"

In order to meet the needs of its transformation into an institution of higher education in Taiwan the R.U.O.S.U. invited the C.S.C. to join them on the tenth board of trustees and work collaboratively on the planning and decision-making of school policies.