A Trinity of Charisms Light the Way

Mercy Partners marked its tenth anniversary with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Mark Coleridge at The Cathedral of St Stephen in Brisbane on Monday 19 November.

Gathered together were representatives from all of its ministries and the many people who have been part of the unfolding story of this PJP (Public Juridic Person) in the Church.

This year’s anniversary theme, A Well-lit Path, honours those whose vision and perseverance brought Mercy Partners into being and prayed for its future as a key governance body in the Church.

The journey towards the establishment of Mercy Partners is chronicled by Anne Hetherington rsm in her history, Mercy Partners Travelling a Well-lit Path: the first 10 years, which was launched at the reception event following the Mass. Here she explains the changes which had begun to impact on religious congregations and why different leadership and governance models were needed:

During the 1980s, the increasing difficulty of finding Sisters either qualified or willing to be appointed to leadership positions within ministries, the growing complexity of the various ministries and the demands of greater accountability imposed by governments were factors which led many Congregations in Australia to move to greater lay involvement at the governance level of their ministries.

The Sisters of Mercy of Queensland in their meetings began to think beyond leadership succession towards questions of sponsorship and governance  and when some religious congregations in the United States petitioned the Vatican to set up a new type of Church entity  (a Public Juridic Person) “… the seed which was to grow into Mercy Partners was planted”.

These Sisters who began the journey – Sisters Faye Kelly, Helen Mary Peters, Sandra Lupi, Moira Truelson and Berneice Loch – were the true midwives of Mercy Partners. The process towards the formation of Mercy Partners and its official acceptance by the Vatican, very ably led by the Mercy Leaders Queensland Sponsorship Committee, was not a long journey as it turned out.

The committee, which began work in February 2007, comprised Sisters of Mercy Sandra Lupi and Margaret King (Brisbane), Faye Kelly (Cairns), Berneice Loch and Bev Strong (Rockhampton), Marie Melville and Bev Hickson (Townsville), Nerida Tinkler (Leader of ISMA) and Margaret Endicott (Project Officer).

On 14 November 2008, after many months of hard work, the Decree conferring public juridic responsibility on Mercy Partners was received from CICLSAL and Mercy Partners was set to go.

The choice of name for the new governance body, Mercy Partners, proved prophetic with other religious organisations joining the Sisters of Mercy on the path. The Presentation Sisters in Queensland transferred their schools, St Rita’s College Brisbane and St Ursula’s College Yeppoon, into Mercy Partners in 2014, bringing their rich charism and the well-lit path of mercy forged by their founder Nano Nagle and generations of Presentation Sisters working for justice, equality and compassion for the most vulnerable.

The Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception became partners in 2017 when they transferred Mount Alvernia College to Mercy Partners, bringing the many blessings of the Franciscan tradition and charism.

This rich diversity was celebrated in the Mass with a procession of light carried by the ministries and the congregational leaders of our partners in mercy.

Archbishop Coleridge paid tribute to the work of the religious at the Mass, when he noted their extraordinary work for the most vulnerable ‘… those who have found no welcome, no hospitality. The religious above all have gone out in a way that is mysterious and magnificent to offer the welcome of God. In other words, to say to those whom the world rejects, “I see you with the eyes of God and in you I see a beloved son”. “I see a beloved daughter.” That has been a unique and wonderful contribution and we give thanks for that here today.’

Speaking at the end of Mass, Mercy Partners Councillor Daryl Hanly issued a challenge for the future, particularly in the light of the work of the Plenary Council in 2020,

‘… we have a responsibility to take advantage of the skills, wisdom, creativity which are integral to our Ministries, through continually enhancing our relationships within and beyond, ensuring that we exercise servant leadership as we demonstrate custodianship of the Gospel message’.

Below are some photos from the Mass and from the reception in the Francis Rush Centre, held after the Mass: