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Young Mercy Leaders' Pilgrimage to Dublin
We were delighted to welcome more than 50 young people and chaperones to Catherine's House in Dublin during the last week of July for the Mercy International Association (MIA) Young Mercy Leaders' Pilgrimage 2024.
This year’s group represented a number of Mercy Universities in the US as follows:
- Carlow University, Pittsburgh, PA
- Gwynedd Mercy University, Gwynedd Valley, PA
- Georgian Court University, New Jersey
- Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA
- Misericordia University, Dallas, PA
- Mount Mercy University, Cedar Rapids, IA
- Saint Xavier’s University, Chicago, IL
- Salve Regina University, Newport, RI
Commenting on the pilgrimage Sr. Margaret Daly, Head of Heritage and Spirituality with MIA said, “There were 54 participants in this year’s pilgrimage group, 11 of whom were chaperones. They were from universities in the USA as named above. During their time with us they had a chance to be together to deepen their sense of mercy and what it means today. They also had time to reflect on mercy in action. We encouraged them to become more reflective as they spent time amongst the heritage we have in Catherine’s House in Dublin.”
The pilgrimage group got to hear several inputs from our guest speakers. They also got to experience the Walking Tour of Catherine's Dublin and to take part in a traditional Irish Céili.
Speaking about the pilgrimage, Sr. Patricia O’Donovan, CEO of MIA, said; “It was a very special week with the Young Mercy Leaders. It was great to experience the energy of youth. I have no doubt that the charism of mercy will be carried forward.
“My parting message to the group was that it is together we do this – so stay connected and be part of a group. I also reminded them of the theme of the week: May you be a light to all! This comes to us from scripture and it was also a particular mantra that Catherine McAuley had. We all have the capacity to do that – to be aware of others, to be aware of the needs of the world and how we respond to them and to be encouragers.
“This house of Mercy, Catherine’s house is here. It’s alive, active and full of heritage. Our pilgrimage group were nourished during their time here. We love to welcome groups to the house and we look forward to welcoming more in the future.”
Amy Cerreta of Georgian Court University offered thanks to all the team at MIA as she departed. She said, “I want to thank everyone at MIA for putting together a wonderful week. My students and myself really got so much out of the experience.
“We have been inspired to bring mercy back to our campus and our community and that’s all because of what you put into the week for us – all the effort, energy, the love and the inspiration. Thank you.”
We spoke to some of the students before they left and some of them shared videos of their experience of the pilgrimage with us. You can check these out on our Instagram along with all the wonderful photos which were taken by our volunteers.
Next year’s pilgrimage will take place from 1 – 4 July and all queries should be sent by email to MargaretDaly@mercyinternational.ie.
Please do take time to look at our Instagram and Facebook pages for the photos and the videos. We also wanted to share this really superb piece from Saint Xavier University News which was kindly sent to us and is a lovely read.