Sisters of Mercy

For the rock band of this name, see The Sisters of Mercy. For the song by Leonard Cohen, see Songs of Leonard Cohen.

"After the Battle of Gravelotte. Sisters of Mercy arriving on the battle field to succor the wounded." Unsigned lithograph, 1870 or 1871.

The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy (RSM) is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. As of 2003^[update], the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations.

Vows and activities

Sisters of Mercy are an international community of Roman Catholic women religious vowed to serve people who suffer from poverty, sickness and lack of education with a special concern for women and children. Members take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the evangelical counsels commonly vowed in religious life, and, in addition, vows of service. They continue to participate in the life of the surrounding community. In keeping with their mission of serving the poor and needy, many sisters engage in teaching, medical care, and community programs. The organization is active in lobbying and politics.

History

The order began when McAuley used an inherited fortune to build a "House of Mercy" in Dublin that provided educational, religious, and social services for poor women and children. The House aroused local opposition, however, it being traditional for nuns rather than lay women to engage in this sort of activity. Eventually the church hierarchy agreed to the formation of a non-cloistered order, and the sisters became known informally as the "walking nuns" for their ability to care for the poor outside a convent. The house still sits today, as the Mercy International Centre.

In the year of 1992, the leaders of the various congregations created the Mercy International Association to foster collaboration and cooperation. The purpose of the Association is to provide support and foster collaboration, organisation and inspiration for the ministries of Sisters of Mercy and their associates.^[1]

Constitution

The Sisters of Mercy are constituted as religious and charitable organizations in a number of countries. Mercy International Association is a registered charity in the Republic of Ireland.^[2] In the United Kingdom, The Union of the Sisters of Mercy of Great Britain is a registered charity, and in 2006–7 had a gross income of £5.5million.^[3]

Controversies

Main article: Abuse scandal in the Sisters of Mercy

The Order was condemned in an Irish government report on May 20, 2009 entitled the Ryan Report of "The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse." The Irish Sisters of Mercy, in company with the Irish Christian Brothers, were two of the principal religious orders named in the report as being the most abusive. The Report described the Mercy order's tolerating physical and sexual abuse of girls in its care in Ireland. Not only that, Mercy Sisters were accused in the report of physically, verbally and emotionally, and perhaps even sexually abusing, or allowing lay personnel to sexually abuse children under the care of the order.^[4]

Schools founded or run by Sisters of Mercy

Australia

• Padua College, Mornington,Victoria
• Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta, Parramatta, New South Wales
• St Monica's North Parramatta, Parramatta, New South Wales
• Academy of Mary Immaculate, Fitzroy, Victoria
• St Columba's School, Ballarat, Victoria
• All Hallows' School, Brisbane, Queensland
• Aranmore Catholic College, Leederville, Western Australia
• Bunbury Catholic College, Bunbury, Western Australia
• Marian Catholic College, Griffith, New South Wales
• Marist College Eastwood, Eastwood, New South Wales
• Mercedes College, Adelaide, South Australia
• Mercedes College, Perth, Western Australia
• Mercy Catholic College, Sydney, New South Wales
• Mercy College, Koondoola, Western Australia
• Mercy College, Mackay, Queensland
• Mercyhurst College, Erie, Pennsylvania
• Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College, North Sydney, New South Wales
• Mount Lilydale Mercy College, Lilydale, Victoria
• Our Lady of Lourdes, Dardunup, Western Australia
• Our Lady of Mercy College, Heidelberg, Victoria
• St Aloysius' College, Melbourne, Victoria
• St Brigid's College, Lesmurdie, Western Australia
• St Catherine's Catholic College, Singleton, New South Wales
• St Mary's College^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Gunnedah, New South Wales
• St Mary's Erskineville, Sydney, New South Wales[1]
• Sacred Heart College, Kyneton, Victoria
• Santa Maria College, Attadale, Western Australia
• Ursula Frayne Catholic College, Victoria Park, Western Australia
• [2]Our Lady of Lourdes,Earlwood,Sydney,NSW Australia
• [3] St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Mossman, Queensland

Belize

• St. Catherine Academy, Belize City, Belize

Ireland

• Mary Immaculate College, Limerick
• Mercy Secondary School, Mounthawk, Tralee, Ireland
• Our Lady of Mercy College, Carysfort, Dublin
• St Leo's College, Carlow
• St Mary's College, Arklow, Wicklow
• St Mary's College Naas, Kildare
• Convent of Mercy, Ballymahon, Longford
• Convent of Mercy, Navan, Meath
• Convent of Mercy, Templemore, North Tipperary
• Mount Mercy College, Cork City, Cork
• Sancta Maria College, Ballyroan, Dublin

Jamaica

• Convent of Mercy "Alpha" Academy,

New Zealand

• Carmel College, Milford, New Zealand
• Holy Cross School, Auckland
• Moreau College, Dunedin
• McAuley High School, Otahuhu, Auckland
• Sacred Heart Cathedral School, Thorndon, Wellington
• St Catherine's College, Wellington
• Saint Mary's College Auckland
• St Mary's College, Christchurch
• St Mary's College, Wellington
• St Mary's in the City Primary School, Christchurch
• St Mary's Primary School, Gore
• St Philomena's College, Dunedin
• Villa Maria College, Christchurch
• Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, Auckland
• St Josephs School Takapuna, Auckland

United Kingdom

• Broughton Hall High School, Liverpool
• Maricourt High School, Liverpool
• Mount Lourdes Grammar School, Enniskillen
• Our Lady's Abingdon, Abingdon-on-Thames
• St Edward's, Lisson Grove, Marylebone, London
• St Joseph's In The Park, Hertingfordbury Park, Hertford
• The McAuley Catholic High School, Doncaster
• St. Anthony's Girls School, Sunderland
• St. Catherine's School, Twickenham
• St. Philip Howard Catholic Primary School, Hatfield
• St. Joseph's Convent Preparatory School, Gravesend
• St Ursula's School, Bristol
• Thornhill College Grammar School, Derry
• St. Patrick's School,^[5] Wolverhampton
• St. Joseph's Convent School, Wanstead, East London
• St Joseph's Park Hill School, Burnley

United States of America

Secondary schools

• Academy of Our Lady of Mercy:Lauralton Hall, Milford, Connecticut
• Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Louisville, Kentucky
• Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro, Massachusetts
• Catherine McAuley High School, Brooklyn, New York
• Catherine McAuley High School, Portland, Maine
• McAuley Catholic High School, Joplin, Missouri
• Mercy High School, Farmington Hills, Michigan
• Mercy High School, Omaha, Nebraska
• Mercy High School, Middletown, Connecticut
• Mercy High School, San Francisco, California
• Mercy Montessori Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Mercyhurst Preparatory School, Erie, Pennsylvania
• Mercymount Country Day School, Cumberland, Rhode Island
• Merion Mercy Academy, Merion Station, Pennsylvania
• Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School, Chicago, Illinois
• Mount Mercy Academy, Buffalo, New York^[6]
• Mount Saint Mary Academy, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Mount St. Mary High School, Oklahoma
• Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
• Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, New Jersey
• Our Lady of Mercy Academy, Syosset, New York
• Our Lady of Mercy High School, Rochester, New York
• Our Lady of Victory Academy, Dobbs Ferry, New York
• Sacred Heart School, Jacksonville, Florida
• Mount de Sales Academy, Macon, Georgia
• Saint Bernard Academy, Nashville, Tennessee
• St. Mary Academy - Bay View, East Providence, Rhode Island
• Saint Stephen School, San Francisco, California
• Saint Raymond of Penafort, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• St. Vincent's Academy, Savannah, Georgia
• Sisters Academy, Asbury Park, New Jersey^[7]

Colleges and universities

• College of St. Mary, Omaha, Nebraska
• Carlow University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Georgian Court University, Lakewood, New Jersey
• Gwynedd-Mercy College, Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania
• Marian Court College, Swampscott, Massachusetts
• Maria College, Albany, New York
• Mercy College of Northwest Ohio, Toledo, Ohio
• Mercy School of Health Sciences, Des Moines, Iowa
• Mercyhurst College, Erie, Pennsylvania
• Misericordia University, Dallas, Pennsylvania
• Mount Aloysius College, Cresson, Pennsylvania
• Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa*
• Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, Connecticut
• Saint Joseph's College of Maine, Standish, Maine
• Saint Xavier University, Chicago, Illinois
• Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island
• Trocaire College, Buffalo, New York
• University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, Michigan
• Walsingham Academy, Williamsburg, Virginia

See also

• Magdalen Asylum
• Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin

References

1. ^ Mercy International Association
2. ^ Registered Charity no. CHY 10078.
3. ^ The Union of the Sisters of Mercy of Great Britain, Registered Charity no. 288158 at the Charity Commission
4. ^ 'Endemic' rape and abuse of Irish children in Catholic care, inquiry finds
5. ^ Black Country History
6. ^ http://www.mtmercy.org
7. ^ http://www.sistersacademycampaign.com

External links

• Mercy International Association website
• Sisters of Mercy of the Americas website
• Mercy Foundation, Australia
• Mercy Home
•  "Sisters of Mercy". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• The Union of the Sisters of Mercy of Great Britain, Registered Charity no. 288158 at the Charity Commission
• Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, Great Britain