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Heritage Webinar Series: 'The Path to the First House of Mercy 1827'
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We are delighted to announce a new Heritage Series from Mercy International Association as we countdown to the 200th anniversary of the Founding of the First House of Mercy by Catherine McAuley which we will celebrate on 24 September 2027.
Our Head of Heritage and Spirituality Caroline Thompson will unpack some of the heritage, history and story in a series of monthly webinars entitled 'The Path to the First House of Mercy 1827'.
The webinars will be a mixture of live and pre-recorded which can be accessed anywhere in the Mercy World. The pre-records will be available on our website and YouTube page and the live webinars will be available on Zoom.
The first in the series will be a pre-record on The Penal Laws in Ireland. We invite you to send in the questions that you would like us to cover as part of the webinar which will be available in late April.
Click on the link below to send a message and keep an eye on our website and social media pages for more information on the series.
Mercy Global Action
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Mercy Global Action
Mercy Focuses on Access to Justice during CSW70
Mercy Global Action
Mercy Focuses on Access to Justice during CSW70
The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York City from 9 to 19 March 2026.
Grounded in a strong civil society presence, the session focused on “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers” through both formal negotiations and vibrant feminist organizing around the UN.
MELF Cohort 5, visiting staff from Mercy International Association, and MGA staff joined thousands of participants from around the world, engaging in a wide range of events.
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Mercy Global Action
Have your say in our Mercy Water Justice Mapping Survey
Mercy Global Action
Have your say in our Mercy Water Justice Mapping Survey
Around the world, Mercy Sisters, Associates, and partners continue to implement projects and advocate to advance water justice and sustainability for all. Ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference in December and as a continuation of the work of the Mercy Water Justice Coalition, MGA is mapping Mercy's contributions to water justice.
To have a voice in our upcoming publication, please take the time to fill out our survey on behalf of your organisation or ministry, or personally. All the responses will inform our understanding of Mercy Water Justice worldwide, and will feed into our advocacy for the UN Water Conference.
We launched our survey on World Water Day - click the link to take the survey which has a deadline for responses of Friday 1 May 2026.
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Mercy Global Action
MELF Cohort Five conclude their immersion experience in New York
Mercy Global Action
MELF Cohort Five conclude their immersion experience in New York
The Mercy Emerging Leadership Fellows (MELF) from Cohort Five took part in an immersion experience in New York from the 6th to the 16th of March. The Immersion Programme was centered on the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN and also included some cultural and historic content. To start their NYC immersion, the Fellows went to see one of New York’s most iconic sights: the Statue of Liberty. They also toured the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Both the Statue and Immigration Museum have a rich, fascinating history that set the tone for the rest of the immersion.
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Mercy Global Action
Check out some of our MELF videos from their NYC Immersion Experience
Mercy Global Action
Check out some of our MELF videos from their NYC Immersion Experience
The Mercy Emerging Leadership Fellows (MELF) from Cohort Five took part in an immersion experience in New York from the 6th to the 16th of March. The Immersion Programme was centered on the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN and also included some cultural and historic content.
You can watch a selection of videos from the Immersion Experience in New York including the live question which Tatiana Diaz asked at the Townhall Meeting with the UN Secretary General.
Mercy Matters
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Fact
On This Day
24 March 1884
Death of Mother Juliana Hardman, first Superior of St Mary's Convent, Handsworth.
25 March 1935
Opening of Mercy Hospital, Melbourne - M Frances Hanigan.
29 March 1883
Death of M Vincent Haire, Foundress of Brooklyn.
30 March 1956
Foundation to Nairobi from Dublin - M Imelda Collins.
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Heritage
Heritage Corner with Caroline Thompson
In our Heritage Corner this month we feature one of the illustrations of Clare Augustine Moore, an artist and illuminator who entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1837. She painted an image which is believed to be the original and only accurate portrait of Catherine McAuley; it is contained in Clare Augustine Moore’s illustrated manuscript The Rule and Constitution of the Religious Sisters of Mercy.
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Spirituality
Spiritual Reflection on the leadership approach of Saint Patrick and Catherine McAuley
Caroline Thompson shares a spiritual reflection on the similarities between the leadership approach of Saint Patrick and that of Catherine McAuley which is inspired by her attendance at a lecture by by Fr Eamonn Conway from Notre Dame University in Western Australia entitled: Leadership Lessons from St Patrick. In particular, the focus was on Saint Patrick as an exemplar of resilient leadership.
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Communications - Podcast
Episode Eleven of Mercy Echoes podcast
Episode Eleven of Mercy Echoes features Sally Bradley the Executive Director and Andrew Lowry Head of Programmes with Mercy Works. Mercy Works was established in 2000 as the development arm of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia and Papua New Guinea. They work in partnership with vulnerable communities and local organisations domestically and in the Asia Pacific region to build capacity, dignity and self-reliance.
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Spirituality
Holy Week Retreat: Walking in Mercy
We are offering the opportunity to gather for a Holy Week online retreat which follows on from our Walking in Mercy Lenten Retreat. Caroline Thompson will lead an online facilitated retreat on the theme of Walking in Mercy during Holy Week. The retreat will be offered twice on Wednesday 1st April to allow the Mercy World to tune in at a time that best suits.
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Bi-centenary of the Founding of the First House of Mercy
Logo launched for 200th anniversary of the founding of the First House of Mercy
We have launched the official logo for the 200th anniversary of the Founding of Catherine McAuley's First House of Mercy at 64a Lower Baggot Street, Dublin in 1827. The anniversary logo is rich in historical and symbolic meaning. Catherine McAuley is pictured as a lay woman, depicted in Mercy blue. A logo kit with copyright information, brand guidelines and recommended usage, is now available from Mercy International Association.
Further Resources
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Worth Reading
Caroline Thompson presents workshop to The Mercy 5 Schools in Sydney Australia on Leadership in the Spirit of Mercy
The Mercy 5 Schools in Sydney Australia have been working together for many years to deliver formation experiences to both staff and students. The network is supported by the Sisters of Mercy of North Sydney and Parramatta. The five schools are: Catherine McAuley College Westmead, Mercy Catholic College Chatswood, Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta, Monte Sant Angelo Mercy College North Sydney and Our Lady of Mercy College Burraneer. This past week Caroline Thompson presented to Middle Leaders from the five Mercy schools on Leadership in the Spirit of Mercy.
Worth Reading)
Worth Knowing
Historic first meeting of the Mercy Alliance Australia/New Zealand
Representatives from the four Mercy Ministerial Public Juridic Persons in Australia and New Zealand held their first-ever in-person meeting in February in Melbourne. Joining their hosts from Mercy Ministry Companions were two Trustees/Stewards from each of Mercy Care, Mercy Partners and Whānau Mercy Ministries. The Alliance was formed in 2021 after several years of discernment and dialogue, with the purpose of strengthening their collective expression of the Mercy mission in contemporary contexts in Australia/New Zealand.
Worth Knowing)
Worth Playing
Fratelli Tutti - Encyclical Letter by Pope Francis now available as an audiobook
On 3 October 2019, Pope Francis signed his third encyclical letter, Fratelli tutti, which focuses on "fraternity and social friendship". Over the course of 21 episodes, Vatican News - Vatican Radio now presents a reading of the unabridged text of the encyclical letter in English.
Worth Listening)
Worth Reading
New book by Anna Burke RSM invites us to return to the heart
The Living Image (Returning to the Heart) is the new book from Anna Burke RSM, an Irish Sister of Mercy who has written widely on spiritual reflection. In the age of artificial intelligence and of social media we are inundated with images. In this book Anna calls us back to the Sacred Heart for a deeper look as now more than ever we need the timeless and faithful image of the Sacred Heart. The Living Image is available now from Messenger Publications.
Worth Reading)
Worth Reading
Sister Libby Fernandez RSM featured in America Magazine
Sr Liby Fernandez RSM, a Sister of Mercy of the Americas, has been featured in America Magazine in an article entitled: "How the Sisters of Mercy are fighting homelessness from coast to coast."
The article, which is available to read on their website, begins: "At 8 a.m. on a frigid day in December, Libby Fernandez, R.S.M., rolls her electric tricycle out of an alley next to her home and heads onto the streets of Sacramento, Calif. Every block or two, she stops pedalling and rings her bicycle bell, gently rousing people sleeping in doorways, in tents or atop flattened cardboard boxes, before the police arrive to clear them out."
Worth Reading)
Worth Reading
Pope: May the lost eyes of children in the face of war convert us
“In these days of great concern over wars that threaten the future of humanity,” we must look to children, because their “lost” eyes can lead to true conversion, Pope Leo XIV wrote in a letter to the readers of Popotus, the weekly supplement dedicated to children as part of the newspaper of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Avvenire. We must also become a little like children again, having “pure eyes” to look at reality so as to “remain human,” the Pope continued.
Worth Reading)
Worth Knowing
Mercy By The Sea invites nominations for the Catherine McAuley Spirit Award
Mercy by the Sea is inviting nominations for the Catherine McAuley Spirit Award which it will be giving to someone who lives out the mission and values of the Sisters of Mercy and their foundress.
This award celebrates a life lived in that same rhythm, while directly supporting Mercy by the Sea as a sacred place where those who serve can pause, be renewed and listen deeply. In doing so, the event ensures that mercy continues to flow -restoring the spirit to return to serve again.
Worth Knowing)
Worth Knowing
Calling for more #Mercy200Stories
#Mercy200Stories is one of Mercy International Association’s (MIA) key projects marking the 200th anniversary of the founding of the first House of Mercy by Catherine McAuley on 24 September 1827.
This global storytelling project is an invitation to the Mercy World to gather and share 200 stories that reveal Mercy in action, Mercy in place, and Mercy as lived experience across the world today.
Worth Knowing)
Mercy eNews
The newsletter of Mercy International Association is published monthly and distributed to subscribers via email. If you have any queries about the newsletter, please contact mercyenews@mercyinternational.ie
For more information on the directors click here
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