During the past week (April 19th - 23rd April), members of the International Presentation Association (IPA) visited Mercy Global Concern to look at models of good practices which have been established in order to help membership understand how our UN office's  efforts has tried to connect membership.

The initialmeeting (Tuesday 20th April) was first planned when the IPA leadership visited the UN and MGC in February 2010. IPA are hoping to produce a book similar to Where in the World are My Sisters - which was published in 2007 by MGC in an effort to help worldwide membership grasp our international outreach.
 
A second meeting took place on Thursday April 22, with the IPA's main representative at the UN.

The International Presentation Association (IPA) is hoping to offer a programme similar to Bridging the Gap between Policy and Practice, which MGC has offered to worldwide membership for the past 6 years. To date, over 200 Sisters of Mercy have availed of that opportunity. I was happy to share the operating details of both projects with Fatima, Mary and Suzanne.
 
The Sisters of Charity Federation also hopes to offer to its membership a programme similar to Bridging the Gap between Policy and Practice.

Messages to Deirdre Mullan rsm - Director MGC

Editor: Briefing Notes 5-7, newly added to the MGC section of the MIA site, are articles in relation to the discussions  at the UN in the ninth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues held as part of the two week meeting commencing 19 April.

The newly elected Congregational Leader and Team of the Union of the Sisters of Mercy of Great Britain are:

Sheila Burke rsm (Congregational Leader)
MaryMcGrath rsm
Geraldine Lawlor rsm
Evelyn Gallagher rsm
Kathleen Gooch rsm.

Sheila and her Team assume office on 30 July 2010 and we wish them every blessing in their new ministry.

Thank you for the support of your prayers during our General Chapter.

Messages to Angela Moroney rsm - Union Communications

Aotearoa New Zealand is a country that was uniquely founded in 1840 by Treaty between indigenous Maori Chiefs and the British crown.  Sisters of Mercy came to Aotearoa New Zealand ten years after the country’s foundation in 1850.  They were the first religious sisters to come to the country.  The initial sisters came from Carlow in Ireland to Auckland at the invitation of the bishop of the diocese of Auckland.  The intended mission was for the Sisters of Mercy to minister to the Maori women and children.

Messages to Mary Kay Dobrovolny rsm - Associate Director Heritage & Spirituality

As I record the wonderful achievement of St Brigid’s Family and Community Centre in Waterford, I begin by quoting Government Minister Mary Hanafin as she opened the beautifully refurbished Centre on 26th February 2010. Commending the work of the Sisters of Mercy, but in particular Maria McGuinness’s role, she said “...stories of abuse in religious orders should not overshadow the good work done by many. It would be wrong to tar everyone with the same brush and it would be wrong to put a negative perspective on religious orders given the amount of really, really positive work that has been done in communities and towns all over the country”.

Messages to Maria McGuinness rsm
 

On Thursday, March 25th,  the leaders of the Mercy Congregations in Brisbane (Sandra Lupi rsm), Rockhampton (Berneice Loch rsm), Townsville (Marie Melville rsm) and Cairns (Faye Kelly rsm) joined together to formally launch a new canonical and civil entity known as Mercy Partners.

Over time it is expected that Mercy Partners will assume the responsibilities currently held by these four Mercy congregations for their health, aged care, education, religious, charitable and community service ministries.

Messages to Marie Melville rsm - Spokesperson for Mercy Partners

1878:  Foundation to Kinvara, Co. Clare
1973: Union of Sisters of Mercy, Kerry - M Philomena Harrington

We often receive enquiries regarding this portrait of Catherine McAuley which was commissioned by the (then)Regional Community of Chicago © 1981, Cloy Kent.

Details of how to purchase the portrait in a variety of formats (postcards, prints, prayer cards) are linked to this item.

We are women called to live the Gospel, inspired by our Foundress to make 'Mercy' the business of our lives, and challenged by our decision to have always a preferential option for the poor.

Have you found that you sometimes need larger storage capacity on CD-Rs? The regular CD-R enables 700MB of information to be stored and gives you approx 74 minutes recording time.  The Prodisc 90Min 800+Min CD-R gives you 800MB of storage space and 90 mins recording time.