Catherine McAuley

The Venerable Mother Catherine Elizabeth McAuley (September 29 1778, Stormanstown House, Dublin, Ireland – November 11 1841, at the House of Mercy she had built on Baggot Street, Dublin) was an Irish nun, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831. [CathEncy|id=10199a|title=Sisters of Mercy] The Order has always been associated with teaching, especially in Ireland, where the nuns taught Catholics (and at times Protestants) at a time when education was mainly reserved for members of the established Church of Ireland.

Catherine McAuley's father was prosperous, which was unusual at that time for Catholics were not allowed to own property or hold good jobs. When she inherited a considerable fortune at the age of 48, she chose to use it to build a house where she and other compassionate women could take in homeless women and children to provide care and an education for them.

She never intended to found a community of religious women... The church (clergy and people) of the time, however, were not supportive of groups of lay women working independently of church structures. Catherine's clerical mentor urged her to form a religious Institute. Catherine and two other women entered the formation program of the Presentation Sisters to formally prepare for life as women religious. At the end of one year they professed vows and returned to the House of Mercy. The Sisters of Mercy consider December 12 1831, the day of their founding as a religious community.

Catherine lived only ten years as a Sister of Mercy, Sister Mary Catherine, but in that time she established twelve foundations in Ireland and two in England. At the time of her death there were 150 Sisters of Mercy. Shortly thereafter, small groups of sisters left Ireland to establish new foundations on the east and west coasts of the United States, in Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina.

Total worldwide vowed membership is about 10,000. [http://www.mercyinternational.ie/ Mercy International Centre] in Dublin, Ireland is the international "home" of Sisters of Mercy worldwide.

In 1978, the cause for the beatification of the "Servant of God" Catherine McAuley was opened by Pope Paul VI, and in 1990, upon recognition of her heroic virtues, Pope John Paul II declared her "Venerable". This places her on the path towards possible sainthood. [ [http://www.mercyworld.org/projects/catherine/a_quinio.asp Catherine's Canonization Cause] at Mercy International Association]

Legacies

* Catherine McAuley Primary School, Craigmore, South Australia
* Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School (Chicago)
* [http://www.mcauley.nsw.edu.au Catherine McAuley School in Westmead, Australia]
* McAuley Catholic College in Grafton, NSW, Australia
* McAuley High School (Cincinnati, Ohio)
* Catherine McAuley High School (Portland, Maine)
* Catherine McAuley High School, Brooklyn, New York
* The McAuley School in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England
* Mercy High School (Burlingame, California)
* Mercy High School (Middletown, Connecticut)
* McAuley Place Living Center Muskegon, MI
* Saint Catherine Academy Belize City, Belize
* [http://www.salve.edu Salve Regina University] , (Newport, Rhode Island)
* [http://www.mtmercy.org Mount Mercy Academy (Buffalo, NY)]
* [http://www.trocaire.edu Trocaire College (Buffalo, NY)]
* McAuley High School, Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand

References

Mercy College, WA, Australia

External links

* [http://www.sistersofmercy.org/home.html Sisters of Mercy of the America]
* [http://www.sistersofmercy.org/connections/volunteers.html Mercy Volunteer Corps]
* [http://www.sistersofmercy.org/connections/associates.html Mercy Associates]
* [http://www.mercyworld.org/projects/catherine/a_quinio.asp Catherine's Canonization Cause]
* [http://www.mcauley.nsw.edu.au Catherine McAuley Westmead,Australia]
* [http://www.mcauleyfoundation.com.au McAuley Foundation, Australia]
* [http://www.mcauleyhs.org Catherine McAuley High School of Portland, Maine]
* [http://www.mcauleyhs.net The McAuley High School of Cincinnati, Ohio]
* [http://www.mothermcauley.org/ Mother McAuley High School of Chicago, Illinois]
* [http://www.mcauley.org.uk/prospectus.htm The McAuley School, Doncaster, United Kingdom]
* [http://www.mtaloy.edu Mount Aloysius College, Cresson, Pennsylvania]
* [http://www.mercycollege.edu Mercy College of Northwest Ohio]
* [http://www.mtmercy.org Mount Mercy Academy, Buffalo, New York]
* [http://www.trocaire.edu Trocaire College, Buffalo, New York]