REFLECTION: Mercy International Association’s Opening Doors Project
As many of our colleagues prepare for their Pilgrimage to Dublin and Baggot Street, I wanted to share with you some information about the Opening Doors Project and Mercy International Association (MIA). The Opening Doors project has been established by the MIA Board to explore the future of MIA.
In November last year, Georgina Smith, Chair Mercy Education and I attended a meeting in Baggot Street with the Board of MIA, the Executive Team and representatives from various Mercy organisations from around the world. This was to probe and engage with the findings of the Opening Doors report completed by Sr Denise Fox. Some of you may have been interviewed by Sr Denise seeking your insights to ensure a new, vital, and creative way for the Mercy charism and the spirit of Catherine McAuley to be present in the world long into the future. Sr Denise sought input from some 800 Mercy women and men from around the globe.
The outcome of the meeting was the articulation of five core areas calling for further investigation:
- Formation
- Communications
- Youth Engagement
- Action for Justice
- Structures
Another gathering was held in Dublin in February 2024, which I attended, to develop a masterplan for the future of MIA. The theme for this meeting was “We will not close the doors of Mercy” which was taken from Mary Wickham’s poem “The Door of Mercy 2: Ends and Ongoings”. It was inspiring to engage with so many colleagues from around the world and to learn about the various Ministries. For example, I discovered there are 17 Mercy Universities in the USA and 55 Mercy Schools across Argentina, Belize, Guam, Honduras, Jamaica, Philippines and USA.
Following the February meeting, the MIA Directors continued the conversation and committed to several actions:
- Establish two new positions at MIA – Head of Communications and Head of Operations
- Create international communication and formation committees
- Complete the renovation of the Heritage Room at Baggot Street and redesign the MIA website.
I invite you to reflect on Mary’s poem and on what the future of Mercy may hold for all of us.
Margaret Bounader, MMC Trustee Director