Our Origin
Catherine McAuley
The Mercy Foundation was established in the spirit of Catherine McAuley, who responded to the needs of her times in a practical and generous way.
Catherine founded the Sisters of Mercy in Ireland in 1831. She was a charismatic social reformer, driven by the words of the Gospel and her unrelenting pursuit for social justice.The Sisters not only served people living in poverty, they also courageously challenged the social structures that resulted in disadvantage and social isolation.
Find out more: https://www.mercyworld.org/catherine
Sisters of Mercy North Sydney
In 1865, Mother Ignatius Elizabeth McQuoin established the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy North Sydney. In 1906, the Sisters opened the Mater Misericordiae (the Mater) Hospital for Women and Children. In 1946, the Mater became a public hospital, securing Government funding. But in the 1980’s this funding was diverted to build a public hospital in the growing western region of Sydney. Consequently, the Mater Hospital was forced to close and was reopened by the Sisters of Mercy North Sydney as the Mater Private Hospital in 1990.
That same year, with the profits from the Mater Private Hospital, the Sisters established the Mercy Foundation to continue their commitment to the poor and to address the structural causes of poverty. In this way, the Mercy Foundation would be an extension of the hospital’s work and the original commitment of Catherine McAuley, to care for “the poor, the sick and the uneducated.”
Find out more: https://www.nsmercy.org.au/
Mercy Partners
To ensure the work of the Mercy Foundation would continue into the future, in 2025 the Sisters of Mercy North Sydney handed over canonical sponsorship and civil ownership of the Mercy Foundation to Mercy Partners.
The Mercy Partners ministerial PJP (Public Juridic Person) is the sole Member of the organisation that operates the ministry. The day-to-day operations of the Mercy Foundation Ltd remains under the governance of the board.
Mercy Partners commits to ensure that their ministries flourish as Catholic ministries that contribute to the emergence of a world where the healing, liberating and life-giving mercy of God is experienced.