COURTESY PHOTO

Members of the South Central Community leadership team include, from left, Sister Kathy Green, president, Sister Paulette Williams, Sister Barbara Wheeley, Sister Mary Angela Perez, Sister Jane Hotstream, vice-president, and Sister Marie Chin.

150 years of loving their neighbors

The Sisters of Mercy of Cincinnati live and work in their foundress’ vision

By Eileen Connelly, OSU

ARCHDIOCESE — It is with a deep sense of gratitude, unwavering faith and hope for the future that the Sisters of Mercy say they are marking 150 years of service to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

The Sisters of Mercy were founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. Born to a prosperous Catholic family, McAuley used her inheritance to lease property on Baggot Street for the purpose of building a large home, called the House of Mercy, to provide religious, educational and social services for women and children. Other women, inspired by her plans for ministry, soon joined her.

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Sister Marjorie Rudemiller, president, Sisters of Mercy, gives the welcome at the start of Mass.

Such was the case in Cincinnati, which by the 1850s had a population of 200,000 with 50,000 Catholics. In 1857 then-Archbishop John Baptist Purcell asked Catholic laywoman Sarah Peter to travel abroad seeking men and women Religious to better meet the spiritual needs of local Catholics. Eleven Sisters of Mercy under the leadership of Mother Mary Theresa Maher volunteered for the mission, arriving in Cincinnati July 28, 1858.

They took up residence in Peter’s home on Lytle Street, and soon after their arrival, Archbishop Purcell visited the women to welcome them and celebrate Mass. On Aug. 24 he canonically appointed Mother Theresa as superior of the community and the Cincinnati Sisters of Mercy community was born. Two months later the Sisters moved to their own home on Sycamore Street. In response to the needs of the church of Cincinnati, they soon opened a night school for young women and a school for infant boys, setting their ministry in motion.

It was just the beginning the congregation’s decades of dedicated service to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, as their ministries in education, health care and social service expanded. In 1869 the Sisters began staffing their first parochial school, St. Patrick, at Third and Mill streets.

Over the next 150 years, members of the congregation served in educational ministry at a number of archdiocesan schools, including St. Mary in Urbana and St. Mary in Piqua. Although the declining number of members has now limited the staffing of schools, the Mercy presence continues in parochial and diocesan schools, along with institutions of higher learning. Today the congregation sponsors Mercy Montessori Center and Mother of Mercy and McAuley high schools in Cincinnati.

The care of the sick was always important to their foundress, and it was a dream of Catherine McAuley’s to found a hospital. The Cincinnati congregation fulfilled that dream with the opening of Mercy Hospital in Hamilton in 1892. The Sisters also added a nursing school as the hospital staff expanded. Fifty years later the 58-bed Our Lady of Mercy Hospital was opened in Mariemont.

The congregation’s health care ministry grew extensively in the 1950s, with the opening of Mercy Hospital/Medical Center in Springfield, Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Coldwater and Mercy Memorial Hospital in Urbana. In the 1970s Mercy Hospital Clermont and Mercy Hospital Fairfield opened, followed by Mercy Hospital Anderson in 1984. Several years later the health-care ministry was restructured as Mercy Health System. In 1989 the system became a co-sponsored ministry with the regional community of Dallas, Pa., and, in 1998, the addition of three new religious congregations led to the formation of Catholic Healthcare Partners.

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Concluding remarks are given by Sister Kathy Green, president, Sisters of Mercy South Central Community, at the end of Mass

In 2002 the regional communities of Cincinnati, Baltimore, North Carolina and St. Louis, along with the affiliated regions of Guam and Jamaica, began laying the groundwork for creating a new community to support their life and mission as they move toward the future. The result was the formation of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas South Central Community, which includes some 748 Sisters, 619 associates and one companion. More than 430 Sisters who attended an assembly at the Cintas Center on Xavier University’s campus July 10–12 elected Sister Kathy Green of Cincinnati the community’s first president.

"Our desire to reshape and reform the community grew from our call as Sisters of Mercy to reach out with courage and love to the needy of our time," Sister Kathy said. "As apostolic women Religious in the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americans, we have a new community that is not simply a merger, but a new creation. This new creation will be shaped by our members, associates and co-ministers and by the Holy Spirit acting within and among us."

"For me it goes back to our theme for the anniversary ‘Giving Thanks . . . Sharing Hope . . . Assuring the Future,’ " said Sister Monica Marie Knipfer. "It’s a time to give thanks to Catherine McAuley, who called us to ministry to be active and contemplative. The 150th anniversary just magnifies God’s goodness. When we look at the future we can know that we’ve made good decisions and will be able to promote mercy in new and adventurous ways we’re not even aware of. I’m proud to be a Sister of Mercy."

"It’s an awesome time to celebrate with the Sisters as well as all of our partners in ministry," added Sister Majorie Rudemiller. "Today we are carrying out service to God’s people together. I feel like we’re very alive, full of hope and rooted in continuing Catherine McAuley’s mission and ministry to those we serve.

"This is a celebration of our life and our mission as a community," said Sister Kathy. "It is a celebration of gratitude for all of the Sisters who have gone before us and who have contributed so much to serving the archdiocese. It is a celebration of our future and continued commitment to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati."

On Aug. 24 Archbishop Daniel E Pilarczyk joined the Sisters, the Mercy associates, friends, co-workers and former students for a celebratory liturgy at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains. Lending their musical talents at the Mass were the combined choirs of McAuley and Mother of Mercy High Schools. A reception followed.

The congregation’s celebration will culminate with a special luncheon on Nov. 8 at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza. In attendance will be Immaculée Ilibagiza, the author of Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. She will receive the Spirit of Mercy award along with 10 other women and men whom the congregation has determined have promoted God’s mercy. Proceeds from the luncheon will benefit the congregation’s ministries.