Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The Hospital Sisters of Mercy were founded in Rome in 1821 by Princess Teresa Orsini. They will be celebrating their 43rd General Chapter from August 25 to September 15, 2008 in Loreto (Italy) on the theme: “Born from above (Jn 3): Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (Rm 12:2).” Following in the footsteps and in the spirit of their Foundress, whose cause for Beatification has been opened, the Hospital Sisters of Mercy the sisters add a vow of “hospitality” to the traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They are present in hospitals and houses for the sick in Italy and in various other countries: the United States, India, Madagascar, Philippines, Argentina, Switzerland, Nigeria, Poland. There are even Sisters from Cameroon and Congo in the Order.
Wherever they are, the religious dedicate themselves to works of mercy through their care for the weak, the poor, orphans, the sick, and the despised... Their charism leads them to share especially in the suffering of the sick, in imitation of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who reaches down to His sick. In recent years, two associations have begun from the Congregation: the volunteers association “La Cometa,” that promotes social, technological, sanitary, and scientific development for the nations where there are communities of Sisters present, and the “Teresa Orsini” Association, for educating mothers according to the example of the Foundress. One of the Congregation’s sisters, Sr. Maria Raffaella Cimatti, was Beatified by the Holy Father John Paul II in 1996. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 29/7/2008)
