Prayers through the intercession of Venerable Catherine are requested for the intentions of all those on the MIA Prayer list: and in particular, those whose names are newly added: Peter O'Reilly, Brendan Stephens, Katie McGloin, Ethel Bignell rsm.

Messages to:
Anne Hannon rsm - Vice postulator Europe and Africa
Sheila Carney rsm - Vice postulator Americas
Mary Duffy rsm - Vice postulator Australia, New Zealand, Philippines

In 2001 the Union of International Superiors General (UISG) meeting in Rome made a very strong statement about the mission of women Religious against Trafficking in Persons. The call of 2001 was reiterated in the Declaration of the UISG assembly in 2004: We will intensify our efforts, as bearers of reconciliation in the world, to eradicate the trafficking of women and children.

This invitation was heard in many parts of Australia and gave impetus and a desire to bring some national structure to the work already being done by individual Sisters from different Congregations.

Sisters of Mercy in Australia are very active supporters of ACRATH, (Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans) as members, participants,donors, speakers, conference organisers, committee members and as the co-ordinators for Victoria and South Australia.

ACRATH is committed to working together towards the elimination of human trafficking in Australia, in Asia, the Pacific and Internationally.

Through a range of activities including personal support, networking with like-minded agencies, meetings with politicians at Federal and State levels and resourcing, members of ACRATH are actively addressing insistently at every level the exploitation of women, men and children.

The latest issue of the ACRATH newsletter can be accessed here

Messages to:
ACRATH 
Carmel Heagerty rsm - ISMAPNG Justice Co-ordinator

Editor: ACRATH is this week's featured website

Sisters and supporters in the Americas are being asked to help promote one of Mercy's goals of the Conference by sending a letter to President Obama and Secretary Clinton to urge that an outcome of the Conference be a new tool that measures the quality of human life and ecological sustainability, rather than just relying on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that encourages extraction, pollution and pillage in the name of economic growth.

With only 29 days to RIO+20, here is how readers of Mercy E-News and your networks can participate in the Dialogue Days:

• Go to www.riodialogues.org and select Request Invite.
  Follow the instructions in the invitation to log in.
• Join a Dialogue topic to participate in a lively discussion on sustainable development recommendations to be presented at the RIO+20 Conference.
• Invite others you think could enrich the discussions by completing the Invite Request at www.riodialogues.org/dashboard. To invite an organisation or institution, send details to support at riodialogues.org

Key Dates:
16-19 June 2012
Sustainable Development Dialogue Days. (Rio de Janeiro)
20-22 June 2012
Rio+20: The UN Conference on Sustainable Development. (Rio de Janeiro)

Messages to: Aine O'Connor rsm - Mercy Global Action Coordinator at the UN.

Editor: Additional resources which may be of interest: The National Justice and Peace Network of England and Wales (NJPN) has produced a Briefing on Rio+20, containing action suggestions for engaging with RIO+20. To access this resource, click here (pdf). The Catholic Institute for International Relations (Progressio) has significant video and related resources available on their website. Don't forget the MIA Statement on RIO +20 available here. MGA has also prepared a prayer which can be downloaded here.

A reminder to those considering applying for the Volunteer Live In/General Duties Position at MIC that applications close on June 8, 2012.

The position is available from Mid August to November/December 2012 (dates are flexible).
Open to Sisters, Associates and Friends of Mercy.
Single person or couple welcome.

Further details about the position are linked to this item.

Messages to: Sylvia Williams rsm - Assistant Director Administration & Finance

The most vulnerable of Joplin, Missouri’s newborns will soon receive sophisticated care in their own community, through the generosity of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy in Washington, D.C. On May 18, during a ceremony in Joplin, Mercy Health Care System leaders and UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba announced details of a $5 million gift from the UAE Embassy that will fund a pediatric section and the hospital’s first neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)...

“This is the kind of relationship that our Founder Catherine McAuley would be very proud of because it connects people for the greater good,” said Mary Roch Rocklage rsm, Mercy’s health ministry liaison. “In this case, because our Middle East neighbors reached out, our babies will have access to critical care.”

A full report with supplemental information including "Mercy Joplin Tornado and Recovery Quick Facts" and "About the UAE" is linked to this item

Messages to Nancy Corbett - Director, Media Relations, Mercy Marketing and Communications

Editor: May 22 marked the one-year anniversary of a tornado that killed 161 people and destroyed 8,000 buildings in Joplin, including the Mercy-owned St. John’s Regional Medical Center. As Joplin, MO, gathers to remember the tornado,  the Sisters of Mercy of the West Midwest continue to give support. To read about their assistance with the recovery in Joplin, click here. Among other Mercy efforts to support residents affected by the tornado, Mercy Housing and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) worked to repair low -income senior citizens accommodation - Mercy village. An account of that re-opening can be read here.

The growth of Mercy ministries to 2025 was the focus of a forum held in Auckland on May 11. Around 60 directors and managers of ministries owned by Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand attended the one-day event.

Congregation Leader Anne Campbell set the scene with her reflection on ‘Mercy, the business of our lives.’ Keynote presenters included public health executive Dr Lester Levy, on skilled governance, and Dr Philip Hill, currently McAuley Professor of International Health in Dunedin, who spoke on his research in tackling TB and pneumonia in The Gambia and on mentoring young health graduates in developing nations today.

The full report is linked to this item.

Messages to: Katrina Fabish rsm - Congregation Leadership Team

Editor: As an Institute, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas recognise an urgent duty and challenge to stand in solidarity with immigrants, refugees and trafficked persons seeking fullness of life. At the Fourth Institute Chapter in 2005, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas chose to focus attention and energy on the issue of immigration and its causes and effects on immigrants, their families, and those left behind as one of their six critical concerns. The following article from The Chicago Reporter, 7 May highlights the activities of two members of the Institute:

" Every Friday morning around 4 a.m. Sister JoAnn Persch and her best friend of 53 years, Sister Pat Murphy, go to the Broadview immigration processing center to help and comfort dozens of undocumented immigrants about to be deported later that morning.

The nuns not only provide pastoral care, but they talk with immigrants and help them communicate with their families, which in many cases haven't been in touch with each other since the start of deportation proceedings.

They bring clothes and even bring family members. It's a sad experience, says Persch.

"We try to make a difference by being there and showing them (detainees waiting to be deported) that we care and that they are not just a number," Perch said..."

Source: The Chicago Reporter

Messages to:
JoAnn Persch rsm and Pat Murphy rsm c/- Pat Kenny rsm - Institute Communications

Mercy Works in partnership with the Rotary Club Mt Hagen has worked to identify a village community with three to four thousand people who are faced with no proper drinking water.

The main aims for starting the water project are: to provide healthy drinking water, prevent the people from getting sick, and to help the mothers and children from walking the long distance to fetch the drinking water.

Mariska Kua rsm (ISMAPNG) who is a member of Rotary Mt Hagen writes, “Today many rivers, creeks and streams are polluted by the people living along the banks. Waste from the mining areas has damaged the surrounding environment along the rivers... the water is not clean, it is undrinkable for humans”.

Messages to: Mariska Kua rsm

Editor: Mercy Investment Services (America) is one of several organizations continuing to advocate for the responsible use of water. Mercy Investment Services, guided by the Critical Concerns, focuses on water access and sustainability as one of its high priority shareholder advocacy issues. To learn more about Mercy Investment Services efforts, click here.

Mercy Housing, a national not-for-profit affordable housing organization headquartered in Denver, has a presence in 43 states, serves more than 139,000 people on any given day and has participated in the development, financing or operation of more than 41,700 homes. Mercy Housing serves families, seniors and people with special needs (formerly homeless, people with HIV/AIDS and the developmentally disabled).

Mercy Housing joined the ranks of some of the best affordable housing developers and owners in the United States, when it made Affordable Housing Finance Magazine’s lists of Top 50 Affordable Housing Developers and Top 50 Affordable Housing Owners in 2011. Affordable Housing Finance published the list in its April/May 2012 issue.

Mercy Housing was ranked 9th out of 50 among the Top 50 Affordable Housing Owners and 7th out of 50 among the Top 50 Affordable Housing Developers. The organization was recognized as one of the top 10 companies completing acquisitions.

Messages to: Lillian Murphy rsm - Chief Executive Officer Mercy Housing

Editor: Mercy Housing is featured in Story Two "Building and Strengthening" in the Mercy and Justice Shall Meet CD-Rom.
 

The Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG) came into existence on December 12, 2011. During the five months since then, the Leadership Team, in conjunction with the Community Leaders, has attended to the needs of the sisters as the six new Communities were established and has also begun to determine the most appropriate way to exercise responsibility for its many incorporated ministries.

Further information on these ministries is linked to this item.

Messages to: Annette Schneider rsm - Institute Leadership Team

Editor: In Mercy E-News June 26, 2006 (Issue 168 ) the Sisters of Mercy of the Philippines appealed to readers to 'Help us Build A New Mercy Hospital'. In subsequent issues of Mercy E-News we learned of the fundraising efforts of the Young Mercy Justice Tree Adelaide (YMJT), the growth of the hospital and most recently (Issue 448) of the arrival of a container of medical equipment and supplies shipped to the Philippines by the Perry Rotary Club of Georgia, USA. In this week's issue of Mercy E-News Carmela Cabactulan rsm gives thanks for all the blessings received:

The Mother of Mercy Hospital (MMH) now giving health care services in the spirit and charism of the Venerable Catherine McAuley, Foundress of the Religious Sisters of Mercy, and concurrently responding to the need for a training facility for the Health Sciences Dept. of the Holy Infant College (HIC) located along B. Aquino Ave. in Tacloban City,  Philippines, has been in full operation since its inauguration on September 24, 2010.

Now in its 20th month of operation, the MMH wishes to share some promising progress with kind-hearted benefactors generously sharing their blessings to support the health care services it renders to the sick with its special program for the poor.

We thank the God of Mercy for divine providence with the needs of the hospital,  particularly for donations of medical equipment and supplies from some Rotary Clubs in the Philippines, Australia and the USA solicited/procured by the Alumni of the Holy Infant College and Friends of the Religious Sisters of Mercy.

Messages to: M. Carmela N. Cabactulan rsm

Principal of Marian College Christchurch, Ms Anna Heffernan, addressed Year 8 girls at Our Lady of Mercy College (OLMC) Parramatta on Friday 4 May to thank them for their support offered after the devastating 2011 earthquake.

In July 2011, Year 7 OLMC girls, eager to respond to the devastating earthquake, raised funds to help students affected. The Year 7 Year Coordinator at the time, Ms Herd, who knew staff at Marian College, arranged with her classes to have gold coin donation days to raise funds to buy shopping centre vouchers to send to the New Zealand students.

Messages to:
Anna Heffernan - Principal Marian College Christchurch
Kitty Guerin - Principal OLMC Parramatta

1850: Foundation to Cobh from St Maries of the Isle, Cork - M Josephine McCarthy

Walnut wood with laser-engraved, gold filled inner cross, available in three sizes.

Details of cost and how to order are linked to this item.

Endorsed by Catholic Religious Australia - the peak body for 180 religious orders in Australia, representing 8000 religious sisters, brothers and priests - ACRATH is committed to working together towards the elimination of human trafficking in Australia, in Asia, the Pacific and Internationally.

Editor: In issue 461 (May 9) in the tip " Four Ways to Stay in Contact Internationally", two of the options involved using Skype. This week's technical tip provides advice on ways to improve the audio quality of computer-to-computer Skype calls.

Source: The New York Times