The first issue of Mercy eNews was published on August 13th, 2001. That first issue - text only and in email format- was emailed to the100 Sisters of Mercy world-wide who were known to have email addresses!

That issue was introduced as "The first regular weekly Mercy email among our group."  One focus for this email was" to promote the importance of the web site as a place for informing sisters around the world of current Mercy events."

The first recipients were invited "to contribute the news of your congregation or regional community to the web site in the latest News section... to help build a global sense of Mercy".

This issue (no 477) marks the first issue in the twelfth year of publication. There are now many many  thousands of readers across the 42 countries in which Sisters of Mercy live and minister, who look forward to the news arriving in their email each Wednesday. Readership has broadened significantly from those first hundred sisters to include all members of the wider Mercy network: associates, family members, friends, members of other religious orders, partners in ministry, former congregation members, current and past students, staffs and employees, to name just some of our groups of faithful readers.

Today provides an opportunity for us to once more thank all those who have supported this enewsletter over the years - you have helped make Mercy E-News a very successful weekly publication. We renew our ongoing invitation to you to share your Mercy events, ideas, actions, connections, opportunities, resources and weblinks through the weekly Mercy E-News, and to let others in your Mercy network know of its existence if they don't already receive our enewsletter each Wednesday.

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

Editor: Mercy E-News is archived each week on the mercyworld.org website. To access the E-News archives, visit to the News Centre. This week's featured site explains how to access issue 11 of Mercy E-news on the 2001 website. Note the difference in design and layout.

The southwest monsoon rains that became a deadly ‘storm’ without a name in the Philippines last week, claimed the lives of 95 people and affected more than 3.74 million persons or 825,018 families, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). Now tropical storm “Helen” has claimed its first fatality as it continues to bring rains to various parts of the country,

MIA invites all our E-News readers and website visitors to join with us and our Mercy Sisters, Associates and Colleagues in the Philippines in prayer for those affected by these rains.

Messages to:  Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

It is the ordinary members of the faithful who bring to the attention of the institutional Church the fact that such and such a person has lived his/her life of Christian virtue in a way that goes beyond what would be expected of an ordinarily good person. Brenda Dolphin, Postulator. To access the complete article, click here.

Prayers through the intercession of Venerable Catherine McAuley are requested for the intentions of all those on the MIA  prayer list and, in particular,  for Rachel Wilson, Rosemary Kelly rsm, Louise Campbell whose names are newly added to the list:

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

...Fracking is proposed in Ireland for the Lough Allen and Clare Basins. The Lough Allen Basin covers an area of 8000 square miles. It includes parts of counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo as well as Fermanagh and Tyrone, which are in another jurisdiction. The Clare Basin encompasses parts of Counties Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick. In total 12 counties will be directly affected.

Fracking is good for development and includes such outcomes as high skill jobs, tax revenue, independent and assured supply of gas to the country, stable energy prices

If this is so then why is there any opposition to this process?

In the article linked to this item, Denise O’Brien (Board member UNANIMA International) explains the process of fracking, explores the reasons why there is opposition to it and provides a list of resources available on the internet for furthering one's knowledge of the issue.

Messages to: Denise O'Brien SUSC c/- Ailish O'Brien rsm - Communications Co-ordinator

The Sisters of Mercy have developed a special elections page on our website, which will be updated each week to bring you information on topics being discussed during this elections season.This will be of interest to all who are concerned about the forthcoming election in the United States

Please visit the page to read what the presidential candidates are saying about poverty, and to check the facts on recent statements and ads about welfare reform. We also have a list of recent articles, books and websites that we hope will help you in being a discerning voter.

In a couple of weeks we will have an elections guide that you can print out to use in reflecting on candidates' positions on issues related to poverty and the Critical Concerfns.

Thank you for your ongoing advocacy with Mercy,

Messages to:  Institute Justice Team

" For those who live in religiously pluralistic cultures and for those who experience the Mercy spirituality and ethos bequeathed by the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, Catherine McAuley,"  writes Cheryl Camp rsm, " it is beneficial to discover within her personal history a prototype of religious tolerance and ecumenism."

Each month the members of the International Canonisation Committee take it in turns to provide a reflection on aspects of Catherine's spirituality and ministry as a resource for E-News readers and mercyworld.org website visitors.

This paper aims to explore Catherine’s experience of Interfaith Dialogue and to examine its influence on Mercy Spirituality.

Messages to:  Mary Duffy rsm - Vice postulator Australia, New Zealand, Philippines

Last week's issue of Mercy E-News included a link to the Congregation of Parramatta’s submission to the Expert Panel  on Asylum Seekers and Refugees.  The purpose of the Panel was to lay a way forward for an Australian Policy on Asylum Seekers and Refugees. This is partly due to the concern in the country of the number of people lost at sea on the way to Australia.

The Panel presented its report on13th August, 2912. Two of its recommendation were that:
• Australia increases its humanitarian intake to about 20,000 up from the current 13,750 and consider increasing it further to 27,000 within five years .
• the Government reopen processing centres on the tiny Pacific island state of Nauru and on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island as a "circuit breaker" to the current surge in arrivals.

The  Prime Minister, Julia Gillard's response to the report is linked to this item.

Messages to: Marie Butcher rsm
 
Photo: UN Photo/Isaac Billy

The Catherine McAuley Award is a program of MercyCare which provides women with a unique experience of being in a community with other women to explore and develop their understanding and potential for leadership through the spirit of service.

Applications are sought from women between the ages of 28- 40 who demonstrate an enquiring mind, a range of life experiences, energy and vitality, a spiritual life in harmony with the Christian tradition and a potential for community, national or international leadership.

The information flyer can be downloaded here

The application pack can be downloaded here

Messages to: Anne Matacz

...Alongside the AMA and others across the nation pushing for more obesity education, Mercy has stepped up its game by funding HealthTeacher, a computer-based curriculum resource reaching more than 800,000 students in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma – states with some of the highest obesity rates in the nation.

At no cost to schools, Mercy Health System's nearly $7 million investment provides online tools for teachers to incorporate education about obesity and other health issues into lesson plans...

Messages to: Sonya Kullman - Mercy Springfield Communities

The Australasian Mercy Secondary School Association (AMSSA) open to educators in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania in secondary schools auspiced by the Sisters of Mercy or where the Sisters of Mercy were founders and leaders, will hold its12th Biennial AMSSA Conference from 13-16 July 2013 in Auckland, New Zealand

Keynote speakers are: Marilyn Lacey rsm (Americas), Director of Mercy Beyond Borders, Megan McKenna rsm and Deborah Stevens, educational consultant in the discipline of Bioethics.

It is hoped this conference will bring a range of international and national presenters, offering insightful and relevant research, information, practices and issues in Mercy education.

To download the conference flyer, click here

Messages to Frances Fitzpatrick rsm - Executive Officer AMSSA

On Tuesday 7 August, the Hon Robyn McSweeney, Minister for Child Protection; Community Services; Seniors and Volunteering; Women’s Interests and Youth, presented MercyCare with a Lotterywest grant cheque of $1,496,213 to assist with a major IT upgrade.

“This grant is a significant financial support for MercyCare as it will allow us to upgrade information technology hardware, software and infrastructure in support of the vital services we offer to the Perth community. Not only will this grant benefit staff and volunteers but also clients, stakeholders and service delivery across the life of our organisation.” said Chris Hall, CEO MercyCare.

Messages to: Chris Hall - CEO 

JANESVILLE — Sharon Olson never hid her tears.

She cried with her patients and their families when they got the sad or happy news that often is part of hospital stays.

This weekend, Olson was the patient. Her nursing colleagues wheeled her bed into the sunshine, and Olson laughed and cried with her own family during an emotional retirement party and celebration of life outside Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center, Janesville...

Source: GazetteXtra.com

Messages to Sharon Olson c/- Pat Kenny rsm - Institute Communications Office

August 10, 2012 - Our prayers and support go out to the leadership and members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. This afternoon, they released a statement resulting from their discussions of a response to the assessment by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

View the press release
View Sister Pat Farrell, OSF's Presidential Address

Messages to: Annmarie Sanders IHM - LCWR Director of Communications

1915: Fort Smith amalgamated with Little Rock, Arkansas
1919: Amalgamation of Emmaville with Gunnedah, New South Wales
1924: Wilkes-Barre motherhouse transferred to Dallas, Pennsylvania
1956: Foundation to New Jersey from Trim, Co Meath - M Columba Farrell

On this, the Feast of the Assumption, this series of talks by Elizabeth Davis rsm on YouTube offer us riches for reflection:
Mary of the Magnificat
Mary as Mother of Sorrows
Mary as Miriam of Nazareth
Mary of the Annunciation
Mary as Mother at the Wedding Feast

The Wayback machine enables a website visitor to browse through over 150 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago.

Type in the mercyworld.org web address at a time when the machine took a snapshot of it ( indicated by the green circle around the date) and remind yourself of how the site has changed and developed, as well as how E-News has evolved.

Alternatively, click on this link.

The link takes youu to the edition of Mercy e-News on 25th of September 2001 and show you how it used to be recreated on the web for archiving purposes. Nowdays the instant Mercy e-news is emailed to the subscription list it is automatically archived on the website.

Avoid overseas connection fees while still enjoying a translator close by.
Source: Tecca Weekly