The Sisters of Mercy are one of the largest religious congregations ever founded in the English-speaking world.  Sister Anne Breslin, a native of Derry who works in Special Education in Belmont House in that city, tells of the Sisters decision to form a union.

In 1897, some Mercy Sisters in Strabane, Ireland, felt the Lord wanted them to go to South Africa.  They felt that the Gospel was urgent and that the time had come for them to go but the authority of the time was hesitant.  Two Sisters left, in the middle of the night, with few belongings.  They arrived in Mafeking after a difficult journey and began their mission in health and education.  Later on, they were reconciled with their superiors.

The spirit which prompted these Sisters to exercise their apostolate in far off places is now inviting today’s Sisters to unite together as one group and form the Sisters of Mercy of Ireland and South Africa.

There are 14,000 Sisters of Mercy and every major town in Ireland has at least one House of Mercy.  There are also Sisters in Africa, Australia, North and South America, England and Scotland.

For over a hundred years the Sisters have organised themselves as their Founderess, Catherine McAuley, did – making a foundation in a diocese and then leaving it to organise itself to best suit the needs of the people.  One of the results is that in Ireland alone there are 26 Mercy Superiors General, each with four councillors.  This means a lot of resources go into administration and a lot of people represent Mercy at religious meetings!

Sisters Margaret Twomey and Annunciata Desmond who are involved in preventative medicine and homecare in Lodwar Diocese, Kenya

Look Again
The Second Vatican Council Document ‘Perfecti Caritas’, called on religious orders to look at their roots to ensure that they were working and living as intended by the Foundress.  They were also invited to come together with other communities or orders who had received the same gift of the Spirit, to witness to the unity of the Spirit.

Nearly 30 years ago, some superiors began to realise that the Holy Spirit might be inviting the Mercy Sisters – who had one Foundress, one tradition and one rule – to share inspiration and administration teams.  They began to draw up an updated rule and to come together in a loose federation to carry out projects that smaller groups could not do on their own.

The Sisters began to recognise it was time for another step in faith – to drink of the richness of our common tradition and to enjoy the different dance of various diocesan histories.  They restated that Mercy is not a business.  Our aim in coming together was not to ‘nationalise’ our use of resources, but to find better ways of honouring the dignity of people in our world.

And so after many, many meetings Sisters have voted to enter the union.  The courage needed should not be underestimated.  We have voted out of existence the community structures we lived with all our history, we have decided we will no longer just work within our own diocese.

Of course there are mixed feelings.  Sisters asked What would Catherine think of this?   Would she want us to stay with local organisation because it gives continuity?  Would she want us to go where the need is, where our skills are best suited regardless of diocesan boundaries?  Would she feel that we will now have the best of both worlds – a national inspiration team, provincial authority structures and Sisters still very much in touch, ‘working and dressing as the women in your area do’.

Sisters also expressed fear about our mission:  ‘I hope we won’t get too far from the people‘, and ‘I don’t want our energy going on a bureaucracy‘.  For others it is a dream come true:  ‘It’s great to share skills with others and to have them come and work with us’, and ‘Together we can do more.  Are we not all one already’?

But for most it is really a stepping out of the board, and stepping out at a time when numbers are falling and it would be much easier to huddle together – but then we sometimes see Christ on the water, beckoning.  However small our faith, we travel with Catherine’s spirit.  She once said:  ‘If it is only my work it will fail, but if it is God’s nothing can stop it’.

The Founder
Catherine McAuley was born in 1778.  She was from the Northside of Dublin.  After the death of her parents she went to live with the wealthy Protestant relations, the Callaghans, who had no children of their own.  Thought they lived before Catholic Emancipation and at a time when Catholics were persecuted, the Callaghans allowed Catherine to practice her faith.  Mrs Callaghan, a Quaker, visited the poor of Dublin and took Catherine with her.  These visits, no doubt, reminded Catherine of similar visits she made with her father, a doctor.  Catherine had the best of both worlds – she could practice the devotions and sacraments of her own faith, and she could also read the Scriptures when other Catholics were not encouraged to do so.

Sister Catherine McAuley 1778 – 1841 by artist Sean O’Sullivan

When the Callaghans died they bequeathed all their wealth to Catherine.  On her visits to the poor she learned a lot of things:  ‘the poor need help today, not next week’ and ‘God can do more than all the money in the Bank of Ireland’.  And so with her inheritance she built the first House of Mercy in Baggot Street, Dublin in 1827, where she educated and trained women for work that was available and taught them basic health care.   Her first reaction on seeing the finished house in Baggot Street, was ‘My God they have built a convent!’

Various pressures suggested to her that perhaps God was asking her to found a Congregation.  In faith and with some fear she entered the Novitiate of the Presentation Sisters in Dublin when she was about 50 years old.  After her training she drew up a rule for the Sisters of Mercy which she founded on December 12th, 1831.

She was determined to keep her ‘cloister on the street’.  Within 10 years there were Mercy Sisters in 10 towns in Ireland.  During that period two houses were opened in England, the first in 1839.  Catherine insisted on sending young Sisters, including Novices, to found new houses.  She had experienced God’s trust so she expressed great trust in others.  She died on November 11th, 1841.

The Future

First Sowatan Fully Professed – Sister Constance Khuelo (right), Endeni Parish, Sowato, South Africa with Sr. Kathy Rule and their friend Caroline

We are strengthened by Catherine’s trust and faith as we join together.  From July 14th, we will be the Sisters of Mercy of Ireland and South Africa.  Our Union, while based in Ireland, will have Sisters as missionaries in over ten countries.  And we are particularly excited that the South African Sisters are joining us at such an historic time for them.