Union and Charity: The Story of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Union and Charity tells the story of the formation and development of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, one of the largest congregations of women religious in the world. Animated by the union and charity their founder Catherine McAuley (1778-1841) regarded as the central characteristic of followers of Jesus Christ, Mercy congregations serving in Central and South America, Jamaica, Guam, the Philippines, and the United States came together governmentally in 1991. For twenty-five years these Mercy women and their colleagues in ministry have engaged in enduring and contemporary forms of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. They have tried to respond in just, merciful, and practical ways to the “signs of the times”: the current needs of women and girls, the evidence and effects of continuing racism, local and global structures and attitudes of violence, the increasing sufferings of those who are economically poor, and the ongoing destruction of Earth and its natural resources.