Religious Sisters of Charity explained

Religious Sisters of Charity
Native Name:Caritas Christi Urget Nos
Native Name Lang:la
Founder:Mary Aikenhead
Type:Centralized Religious Institute of Consecrated Life of Pontifical Right (for Women)
Headquarters:Religious Sisters of Charity Generalate, Caritas, 15 Gilford Road, Sandymount D04 X337, Dublin
Leader Title:Superior general
Leader Name:Sr. Patricia Lenihan, [1]
Remarks:Motto: "The love of Christ urges us on"

The Religious Sisters of Charity or Irish Sisters of Charity is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded by Mary Aikenhead in Ireland on 15 January 1815. Its motto is Latin: Caritas Christi urget nos ('The love Christ urges us on'; 5:14 NRSV).

The institute has its headquarters in Dublin. The congregation is governed by a congregational leader, assisted by a group of sisters known as the general leadership team or the general council.[2] In England and Scotland, it operates as a registered charity. The Religious Sisters of Charity of Australia is constituted as a distinct Congregation.

History

The religious institute was founded by Mary Frances Aikenhead (1787–1858) who opened its first convent in Dublin in 1815.[3] In 1834 St. Vincent's Hospital in Dublin was set up by Mary Aikenhead.[4] [5]

In 1838 five sisters arrived in Australia — the first religious women to set foot on Australian soil — and later opened a convent in Parramatta. Since 1842 the Australian congregation has operated independently.

The sisters arrived in England in 1840. They first came to Birkenhead in 1900. As of 2020, most of the sisters in residence are involved in parish ministry. The provincial house is in Acton, London.In 1845, Mother Aikenhead had been advised for health reasons to move to the country. She purchased “Greenmount”, a late 18th century house at Harold’s Cross. Renamed "Our Lady’s Mount", it became the motherhouse of the congregation, housing the novitiate and a school. In 1879, the motherhouse was moved to Mount St. Anne's in Milltown. The Sisters operate a heritage centre within the grounds of Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin.

Ministry

In addition to the traditional three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, the Religious Sisters of Charity take a fourth vow: to devote their lives to the service of the poor.[6] The community is active in Ireland, England, Scotland, Australia, California, Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi, serving in health care, education, pastoral and social work, catechesis, home visitation, home for the handicapped and adult education. The Generalate is located at Sandymount, Dublin

In 1821 the Governor of Kilmainham Gaol asked sisters to visit women inmates; prison visitation remains an important ministry for the Congregation.[7] The Stanhope Street Primary School, Dublin originally opened in 1867. A new building on the same site continues to educate students. In keeping with their work with the homeless, in June 2017 the Religious Sisters of Charity launched the opening of 28 new homes for disabled, homeless and vulnerable people, in Harold’s Cross, Dublin.[8]

The Religious Sisters of Charity arrived in Nigeria in 1961.[9] In Lagos, Nigeria the sisters staff St. Joseph’s Clinic, Kirikiri.

Hospice work

In 1892 Agnes Bernard of the Sisters of Charity started a convent and woollen mill in Foxford in County Mayo. The woollen mills are still (2017) an important employer.[15]

Controversies

Child abuse

The Sisters of Charity is one of 18 religious congregations which managed residential institutions for children investigated by the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, and was party to the 2002, €128-million indemnity agreement with the Republic of Ireland State.The Commission's work started in 1999 and it published its public report, commonly referred to as the Ryan report, on 20 May 2009. Following publication of the Ryan report in 2009 the Sisters of Charity offered to contribute a further €5 million towards the €1.5 billion redress costs incurred by the State involving former residents of the institutions.

As of 2017, the Sisters of Charity had contributed €2 million of their 2009 offer plus €3m in waived legal costs from the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.[16] [17]

Magdalene asylums

The Religious Sisters of Charity were one of four Catholic organisations that ran Magdalene laundries (or asylums) in Ireland. These institutions operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries to house "fallen women".

In 1993, to allow for the sale of laundry and convent lands for a private housing development in High Park, Dublin, a licensed exhumation of a mass grave that had been in use between the 1880-1970s took place. The mass grave was found to contain the remains of 155 women - 22 more bodies than had originally been reported to have been buried there.[18] [19] Many of the bodies exhibited evidence of harm, such as broken limbs encased in plaster.[20] The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child ultimately called for a government inquiry,[21] as did the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT). UNCAT also called for a redress scheme to be set up for survivors.[22] A formal state apology was issued in 2013, and a €50–60 million compensation scheme for survivors was established. Neither the Catholic Church,[23] nor the four religious institutes that ran the Irish asylums have as yet contributed to the survivor's fund, despite demands from the Irish government.

Senator Martin McAleese chaired an Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries. An Interim Report was released in October 2011.[24] In 2013 the BBC released a special investigation, Sue Lloyd-Roberts' "Demanding justice for women and children abused by Irish nuns." The Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, and Sisters of Charity, have ignored requests by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the UN Committee Against Torture to contribute to the compensation fund for victims, including 600 still alive in March 2014.[25] In 2013 the Sisters of Charity, along with the three other religious congregations which managed Magdalene laundries, announced that they would not be making any contribution to the State redress scheme for women who had been in the laundries.[16]

St. Vincent Hospital

In May 2013, it was announced that the new National Maternity Hospital, Dublin would be built on a site at St. Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, founded in 1834 by Mother Mary Aikenhead, foundress of the Religious Sisters of Charity, with the Sisters having ownership, involvement in management, and representation on the board.[26] [27] On 29 May 2017, in response to weeks of pressure and public outrage, the Sisters of Charity announced that they were ending their role in St Vincent's Healthcare Group and would not be involved in the ownership or management of the new hospital, and would gift the lands to the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group, worth some €200 million; the two sisters on the board resigned.[28] [29] It later emerged that the mechanism for control of the hospital going forward was to transfer ownership to a trust - St. Vincent's Holdings - which would take over the hospital when the new building, costing €1 billion and being paid for by the state, was complete. St. Vincent's Holdings would then lease the hospital back to the state, for 99 years.[30] This time period was later extended to 299 years.

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Religious Order Sisters . 23 December 2022.
  2. Web site: Congregational structure . https://web.archive.org/web/20100311013842/http://www.rsccaritas.ie/features/congregational-structure . dead . 11 March 2010 . Religious Sisters of Charity . 19 April 2017 .
  3. Book: Mary Peckham Magray. The Transforming Power of the Nuns: Women, Religion, and Cultural Change in Ireland, 1750-1900. 4 June 1998. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-535452-2. 18–.
  4. Book: Meenan, F. O. C.. 1995. St Vincent's Hospital 1834-1994. Dublin. Gill and Macmillan. 0-7171-2151-8.
  5. News: McGarry . Patsy . Vatican approves transfer of lands at St Vincent's hospital site . 2022-05-01 . The Irish Times . en.
  6. https://maryaikenheadministries.com.au/mary-aikenhead/ "Mary Aikenhead", Mary Aikenhead Ministries
  7. https://religioussistersofcharity.ie/history/ "History", Religious Sisters of Charity Ireland
  8. http://brigidine.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Focus-Ireland-Harolds-Cross-3-July-2017-2.pdf Mulhall csb, Kay. "An initiative of the Religious Sisters of Charity (Ireland)- opens 28 new homes for homeless, disabled and vulnerable people.", Focus Ireland, 3 July 2017
  9. http://www.ncwr.org.ng/rsc.html "Religious Sisters of Charity", Nigeria Conference of Women Religious
  10. https://olh.ie/about-us/our-heritage/ "Our Heritage", Our Lady's Hospice & Care Services
  11. News: Dame Cicely Saunders, OM . 22 June 2018 . The Telegraph . 15 Jul 2005.
  12. http://religioussistersofcharityeng-scot.org/ Religious Sisters of Charity -English/Scottish Province
  13. https://www.smh.org.uk/history/ "History", St. Margaret of Scotland Hospice
  14. https://www.st-andrews-hospice.com/about-the-hospice/#tab-id-3 "History", St. Andrew's Hospice
  15. Book: Margaret Molloy. Agnes Morrogh-Bernard: Foundress of Foxford Woollen Mills. 28 November 2014. Mercier Press, Limited. 978-1-78117-330-5.
  16. News: Sisters of Charity to be given new National Maternity Hospital. . 19 April 2017.
  17. Web site: Foley . Norma . 29 June 2021 . Written answers (Question to Education) Dáil Éireann .
  18. Book: McAleese, Martin . Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries . Department of Justice . 2013 . 802 . en.
  19. News: Irish Church's Forgotten Victims Take Case to U.N.. Carol. Ryan. The New York Times . 25 May 2011. 19 April 2017. NYTimes.com.
  20. Web site: Demanding justice for women and children abused by Irish nuns. BBC Magazine. 23 September 2013. 13 April 2022.
  21. News: UN calls for Magdalene laundries investigation, demands Vatican turn over child abusers to police. RTE News. 5 February 2014.
  22. News: Investigate Magdalen Abuses: UN. O'Doherty. Caroline. Irish Examiner. 7 June 2011. 13 April 2022.
  23. Web site: Magdalene compensation snub is 'rejection of Laundry women'. 2 August 2013. 19 April 2017.
  24. Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries. https://maggiemcneill.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/magdalene-report-2-5-13.pdf
  25. Ireland’s Forced Labour Survivors. BBC Assignment. 18 October 2014. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p028rz97
  26. Web site: National Maternity Hospital to leave Holles St in €150m move . TheJournal.ie . 27 May 2013 . 2013-06-18 . Reilly, Gavan.
  27. Web site: Religious Sisters of Charity to Gift to People of Ireland Lands at St Vincent's Healthcare Group to the Value of €200 million. . 2022-05-10 . rsccaritas.com. 8 May 2020 .
  28. Web site: Sisters of Charity give up role in Dublin maternity hospital . The Guardian . 29 May 2017 . Henry McDonald . 29 May 2017.
  29. News: McGarry . Patsy . Vatican approves transfer of lands at St Vincent's hospital site . 2022-05-01 . The Irish Times . en.
  30. News: Q&A: Why has the National Maternity Hospital project become such a mess?. Bray. Jennifer. Irish Times. 23 June 2021. 13 April 2022.