The Sisters of Mercy North Sydney welcome visitors to the
Mission and Heritage Centre
at Stormanston House
Foundation
The origins of the North Sydney Sisters of Mercy began in Ireland, 1831, when Catherine McAuley gave everything she had to the poor and suffering of Dublin. Catherine’s vision was to walk the path with the underprivileged people of her community and empower them to become valued members of society. The women Catherine McAuley inspired to carry out this work became the first Sisters of Mercy.
Catherine McAuley had a dream...
“We have the privilege of knowing it, we have the responsibility to understand it, we have the duty to protect it and we have the honour of living it!”
Maria McGuiness
Education
The tradition of a Mercy education was borne out of Catherine McAuley’s desire to liberate the Catholic underclass of Ireland. Catholics were not allowed to be educated under British rule and Catherine sought to remove this barrier that condemned the vast majority of Ireland’s population into poverty and ignorance. Catherine McAuley travelled to France in 1825 to learn from the teaching style of the De la Salle Brothers and Sisters of Charity.
Health
Catherine McAuley championed the access to health care for the poor Catholic underclass of Dublin who could neither afford nor were welcome in predominantly Protestant-run hospitals of the time. Catherine saw access to health as a means to break the poverty cycle.
After the death of Elizabeth McQuoin, what would have been the newly appointed Mother Aloysius Casey’s first thoughts on receiving the request from Bishop Moran to have her Sisters of Mercy establish a hospital on Sydney’s North Shore?
Social Justice
The legacy of Catherine McAuley challenges us all to lead lives of Mercy which embody the values of Dignity, Compassion, Justice, Education, Service, Hospitality, Advocacy and Stewardship. Catherine’s life is an example of how we must be the change we want to see in the world. Walking the path with the poor and the marginalised allows us to respond to the call of the Gospel.
Since arriving in Australia, the Sisters of Mercy have responded to the needs of the communities they have served. As society and the world around us change, so have the expressions of support offered by the Sisters of Mercy.