Catherine McAuley

Strengthened by this inheritance, Catherine McAuley decided to devote her fortune to the relief of the most destitute, particularly homeless women and children. In 1824, she acquired land at the corner of Baggot Street and Herbert Street in Dublin to build a large house of refuge. On September 24, 1827, the feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, the "House of Mercy" opened its doors. Catherine, assisted by companions such as Anna Maria Doyle and Catherine Byrn, offered shelter for destitute women, a school for poor children, and vocational training for young girls. Although Catherine did not initially intend to found a religious order, preferring an association of laywomen, the scale of the work and criticism from certain members of the clergy and society led her to structure her action. Under the advice of the Archbishop of Dublin, Mgr Daniel Murray, she agreed to found a religious congregation to ensure the continuity of her mission. On September 8, 1830, Catherine McAuley, Anna Maria Doyle, and Elizabeth Harley entered the novitiate of the Sisters of the Presentation at George's Hill, in Dublin, to receive formal religious training. On December 12, 1831, they pronounced their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, to which was added a specific vow of service to the poor, the sick, and the uneducated. This was the official birth of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy. Upon returning to Baggot Street, the community developed rapidly. Nicknamed "the walking nuns" because of their habit of traversing the streets and slums to visit the sick and the poor in their homes, the Sisters of Mercy expanded their work. Catherine McAuley personally founded twelve other convents in Ireland and England (notably in Kingstown, Tullamore, Charleville, Carlow, Cork, Limerick, and Bermondsey in London). On June 6, 1841, Pope Gregory XVI formally approved the Rule and Constitutions of the institute. Exhausted by her many travels and labors, Catherine McAuley contracted tuberculosis. She passed away on November 11, 1841, at the Baggot Street convent in Dublin, at the age of 63. Before dying, she asked her sisters to comfort one another and to share a nice cup of tea together after her departure, a gesture that has remained the symbol of her congregation's hospitality.

The cause for the canonization of Catherine McAuley was introduced at the diocesan level in the 20th century. The diocesan inquiry into her life, writings, and virtues opened in Dublin on December 14, 1978, and closed on April 27, 1979. The validity of this inquiry was recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on April 26, 1985. The Positio on her heroic virtues was published in 1986, and subsequently examined by historical and theological consultants.

On April 9, 1990, by decree of Pope John Paul II, Catherine McAuley was declared venerable, in recognition of the heroic nature of her theological virtues (faith, hope, charity) and cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance). To this day, her cause remains open, awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession, a necessary step for her beatification.

The spirituality of Catherine McAuley is centered on the mystery of Divine Mercy, which she conceived not as an abstract idea, but as an active force of compassion and social justice. She insisted that the love of God must be translated into concrete acts toward the most vulnerable. Her pedagogy and her approach to social assistance, innovative for her time, aimed to restore dignity to women through education and financial independence. Today, the legacy of Catherine McAuley is immense. The Sisters of Mercy form one of the largest female religious congregations in the world, present on several continents (Europe, the Americas, Oceania, Asia). They continue her work in the fields of education, health, social action, and the defense of the rights of the oppressed.