Tuesday, September 09, 2008

The Last Sister

My aunt has returned to Ireland after 49 years in Prince George, British Columbia. There was a nice write up about her in the Prince George Citizen before she left. She was the last of the Sisters of Mercy in the diocese.

Too often over the past 10 years or so we in Ireland only heard about priests and nuns who left here years ago when some form of scandal erupted. Yet my aunt and the vast majority of the thousands of others who went on the missions from here served the Church wholeheartedly, with passion and grace. At the same time they constituted a tremendous army of ambassadors for Ireland throughout the four corners of the globe. That my aunt and thousands like her are not being replaced by younger Irish missionaries is a loss both for the Church and for Ireland.