Mother Mary Aikenhead, founder of the Sisters of Charity.
The Sisters of Charity of Australia, or the Congregation of the Religious Sisters of Charity of Australia, is a congregation of religious sisters in the Catholic Church established in 1838. Sisters use the post-nominal initials of RSC.
History
Mother Mary Aikenhead was requested by John Bede Polding OS., the first Catholic bishop in Australia, to send some sisters to help the many female convicts who had been transported to Australia as penalty for their crimes.
Arriving in New South Wales, on the Francis Spaight on 31 December 1838,[1][2] the five volunteer Sisters were the first Religious Sisters to set foot on the Australian continent.[3] They were led by Mother Mary John Cahill. The other sisters were Mary Lawrence Cater, Mary Baptist De Lacy, Mary Frances de Sales O'Brien and Mary Xavier Williams, who was a novice.[4]
The Sisters of Charity of Australia have operated independently of the congregation in Ireland since 1842. St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, was founded by the Sisters in 1857.[5] In 1925, the Sisters of Charity ventured to Queensland, Australia, to open a school, Mt St Michael's College — originally known as Grantuly until 1941 — in Ashgrove.[6]
The spirituality of the Sisters of Charity derives from the life of St. Vincent de Paul and the vision of Mary Aikenhead, their foundress. In addition to the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, the Sisters of Charity take a fourth vow of service to the poor. For the Sisters of Charity, "Service of the Poor" denotes not only the alleviation of a present affliction by immediate action, but also includes having a "preferential option for the poor".[7]
Services
The ministries of the Sisters of Charity of Australia have been varied in nature from the time of their founding. From ministering in prisons to managing hospitals and acting to conserve environments, they have been quick to "read the signs of the times" and move to where they have been most needed, in the greatest service to the poor. One of their most prominent ministries was the establishment of St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney in 1857. St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne was opened in 1893.
In 2009, the stewardship of St Vincent's Health Australia was passed to Mary Aikenhead Ministries, a newly founded arm operating under the Australian division of the Sisters of Charity.
In June 2019, the Sisters of Charity of Australia opened their Heritage Centre and Archives in Potts Point, Sydney, adjacent to St Vincent's Ladies' College, the Congregational Chapel, and the original site of St Vincent's Private Hospital Sydney. The Centre houses an exhibition space which tells the story of the Sisters of Charity since their arrival in 1838, as well as the archives and meeting spaces.
Schools
The following is a timeline of the schools which were either founded or at which the Sisters had a foundational or otherwise significant impact on the school. This timeline was authored by Danielle Achikian in her book Ministry of Love: The story of the Sister of Charity.
1968 demolished and new St Vincent's Private Hospital built on site
1910 St Vincent's Hospital Clinical School established. It is the first school to have a formal agreement with the University of Melbourne regarding the appointment of teaching staff
1937 St Vincent's Maternity Hospital, Melbourne
1972 merged with St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne
1938 Caritas Christi Hospice, Kew
1958 St Vincent's School of Medical Research, Melbourne
1984 St Vincent's at Home at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
1984 renamed St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research
1959 Home Care Extension Service established and later renamed
1960 Aikenhead Nurses Home and Daly Wing at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
1961 Intensive Care Unit established at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne the first in Australia
1964 Australia's first clinic for the care of alcoholics and the study of alcohol established at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
1970 The O’Brien Institute
1972 St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne
1998 merged with Mercy Private Hospital to form St Vincent's & Mercy Private Hospital
2008 Acquisition of Vimy Private Hospital. All three facilities merged to become known as St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne
1976 Microsurgery Research Unit established at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
1976 Prague House, Kew established offering residential health services for homeless people
1979 St Augustine's Ward established at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne provide inpatient health services for prison inmates
1988 de Paul House, Fitzroy opens as a detoxification unit
1997 Briar Terrace support service opened in Fitzroy
2001 St George's Health Service Kew transferred by the State Government to be part of St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
2006 St Vincent's Clinical Education and Simulation Centre established at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
