Sr Mary Lewis RSM is at the frontline helping refugees and asylum seeker students settle into the Australian education system. At the end of each month, all our Mercy Connect volunteers submit a report to their respective Coordinators giving them an update of how they are going.  Recently, Sr Mary received one moving report

  On the weekend of 24 and 25 July, Mackillop Family Services will be offering a virtual tour of an interactive map of MacKillop Family Services’ head office in South Melbourne which is one of the oldest orphanage buildings in Australia.   Originally opened as the St Vincent de Paul Orphanage in 1857, the building

  The Ballarat East heritage and archives collection moved to Sydney in November 2019. As the Institute Archives and Heritage Team have been processing the collection they have discovered many wonderful objects that illustrate the rich religious and social history of the sisters in Ballarat East.   Music Stand This elegant music stand belonged to

    (Aboriginal peoples should be aware that this article may contain images of people who have died).   “For all of us in Mercy” is how Adele Howard RSM describes her Order of Australia Medal that was conferred as part of the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours.   While she admits she had some initial

  In her regular column in the Central Western Daily Newspaper, Mary Trainor RSM writes of the challenges confronting Australia due to COVID-19 and the hope that the community will continue to rally together and do the right thing for themselves and others.     The growing numbers of infections from the Coronavirus poses a challenge

  In April this year, Mercy Works asked for your help and the response we received far exceeded our expectations.   I had received an urgent letter from Sr Maryanne Kolkia RSM, our In-Country Coordinator for Papua New Guinea, updating me on the escalating COVID situation in PNG and requesting emergency assistance.   Maryanne wrote

    Last year Seville Mercy Conference made a decision to adopt Laudato Si in their operations which included developing a benchmark of practices in January 2021 resulting in 76 changes to the way in which they undertake their ministry.    Subsequently, an audit was conducted and a plan was developed with a total of

  On Saturday, 22 May visitors were warmly welcomed to Seville Conference Centre in Cairns for an Ecumenical Women’s Breakfast with guest speaker, Lesley Van Staveren.   2021 has seen big changes at Seville to make it a centre for living out the values of Laudato Si,  Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment.  Seville is

  On Monday May 24, thirteen Sisters gathered with Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green, the  Wilcannia-Forbes Catholic Education Office and Chancery to bless a series of plaques adorning the Catholic Education Office in Forbes. The plaques recognise the history, work, education, care and dedication of our Sisters past and present.   The wording and design of the plaques

  The month of May has been eventful and event-filled for Young Mercy Links SA members, hosting a Girls Day, Mother’s Day event and a Festival of Food Fundraiser in partnership with the Circle of Friends for the refugee community in Adelaide.   Held in the school holidays, the Girls Day consisted of a few

  We are sometimes fortunate to receive meaningful donations to our archives and heritage collections.  Recently we have been contacted by Julie Millowick from Melbourne, whose career in photography began in 1974 in the darkroom of Athol Smith, John Cato and Peter Barr. Athol Smith was a legendary advertising and fashion photographer in Collins Street. 

  Having a job and feeling valued for our workplace contribution is something most of us take for granted, yet for Dawn Bennett, it makes a world of difference.   For over 12 months, Dawn has been employed by KFC Lavington and said that she “likes cleaning the little area I need to clean in