Mercy gathering focuses on hope and hospitality

About 120 participants gathered for two days of talks and workshops at the fourth annual Mercy Ministry Companions (MMC) conference earlier this month.

MMC formation co-ordinator Sr Annette Schneider said hope and hospitality – two of the organisation’s five core values and part of the conference theme – were “absolutely essential” to living out the mission of Mercy Ministries today.

“You only have to look at the news of the night to see where there’s the lack of hospitality and welcome and inclusion,” she said. “There’s desperation on people’s faces, rather than hope.”

Mercy Ministry Companions was founded as a Ministerial Public Juridic Person in December 2021, to govern ministries which were formerly the responsibility of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea. A similar institution, Whānau Mercy Ministries, was launched by Ngā Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand in 2023.

Newly installed Brisbane Archbishop Shane Mackinlay was among the keynote speakers at the Melbourne conference. He spoke about hospitality, synodality and hope.

Sr Annette said Archbishop Mackinlay looked at the major topics in light of the “life of the Church and in the scope of our ministries”.

He drew upon Church teachings as well as insights from Scripture and social research, highlighting ways in which the world was “crying out” for hope and hospitality and what possible responses could be made.

Synodality, Sr Annette said, “is a strong part of how we (MMC) see our mission in the Church . . . how we try and do things in our decision-making, in our engagement with ministries”.

The conference, she said, was an opportunity to bring people together, to learn from each other and to inspire the participants to engage in their mission and to identify opportunities to work collaboratively to address emerging needs.

The event also included two rounds of workshops where each MMC ministry explored the theme and showcased initiatives that address emerging and existing needs in education, community services and health and aged care.

FULL STORY

Mercy conference puts spotlight on hope and hospitality with keynotes including Archbishop Mackinlay (By Joe Higgins/The Catholic Leader)

Whānau Mercy Ministries launched (Ngā Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand)