One step they have taken is a letter-writing campaign to governments and proposed attendees to RIO+20, from countries where Mercy sisters work.

The Mercy letter calls on the government leaders and personnel to include ethical considerations when they are negotiating at the Rio Conference.

The letter also asks the delegates to "affirm a strong definition of sustainable development and a shared vision of ethical and spiritual values that would inspire and guide cooperative action for change."

Source

• Mercy International Association
• Image: Human Impact Institute

"I'm only disappointed that my favourite old boy rugby star, Lome Fa'atau, won't be in Wellington when I run out on to the field with Mother Fatima. I did so enjoy watching him at the Cake Tin. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself," she wrote.

Source

• Tim Donoghue in The Dominion Post
• Image: scrumoftheearth.com

Over the years 510 women have given their lives to God as Mercy Sisters in this area. The Sisters have started 43 schools and staffed many others as well. They have cared for the sick in their homes and in makeshift hospitals during the 1918 Influenza Epidemic as well as in Mater Misericordiae Hospital (later Mercy Hospital) in Palmerston North. Caring for children in need has also been to the fore.

Congregation Leader, Anne Campbell rsm says the event is a chance "to wrap our memory cloak around us, and to slip into the folds of a precious legacy. This is a time to bow our heads in gratitude and to raise them to welcome new horizons of Mercy today."

Celebrations take the form of a celebratory meal on Sunday, a cemeteries' visit on Monday (weather permitting) and a Thanksgiving Eucharist in Sacred Heart Cathedral, Thorndon at 6.30pm on Tuesday to which all are invited.

Source

• Mercy Focus
• Sister Stephanie Kitching rsm
• Image: Mercy Focus