Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Philadelphia (Agenzia Fides) – On August 15, in Philadelphia, six Medical Mission Sisters (Medical Mission Sisters) from North America will celebrate their 60th anniversary of perpetual vows and another two, their 65th anniversary. One of the Sisters is Sister Julia Burkart, who has long worked in the hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and is currently working with the homeless and female prisoners. Sister Jane Burns has translated the liturgy from Latin to Bengali, and has worked in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Philippines, India, Pakistan, Africa, Latin America, the United States, and Europe. Sister Anna Mae Doran serves as nurse-midwife working with children and mothers in need in Patna, Mandar, Mumbai, and Kerala, India. Sister Pat Edelen has been working in the hospital pharmacies in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and Atlanta. Sr. Jean Murray has been working with young people in St. Louis and Philadelphia, as well as in Limbe, Malawi. Sister Andrea Serafini works as a nurse in Renovo, PA and has served in India for 27 years, Thuruthipuram, Kottayam, New Delhi, Bombay, and Patna. Sister Mary Conahan has lived ten years in Rome, spreading the work of the Congregation. Sister Catherine Shean, a pioneer nurse midwife led the Catholic Maternity Institute in Santa Fe for over 20 years, in addition to being on mission in Africa for 25 years, Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi. The MMS is an international community of Catholic Sisters in charge of health, education, health, and wellness programs, women's development, commitment to justice, prayer and spirituality, music and songs. The Congregation was founded in Washington by an Austrian doctor named Anna Dengel, with the help of a priest named Fr. Michael Mathis, to offer health care to the poor in developing countries. The first community, consisting of two doctors and two nurses, was passed June 10, 1925 by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Currently, there are 625 Sisters present in 23 countries on five continents: the General House is based in London. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 08/04/2010)
