The Bon Secours Sisters in Cork recently celebrated the bicentenary of the congregation with Mass at which Bishop Fintan Gavin was the principal celbrant.
The congregation was founded in France in 1824 in the years after the French Revolution.
In his homily at the Mass, Bishop Fintan said that while the first sisters arrived to Dublin in 1861, it was in Cork that the congregation really thrived, and a large religious community and hospital grew.
For over 200 years, women from France, and later from Ireland and the United States, and in more recent times from Peru and The Congo have dedicated their lives as Sisters of Bon Secours because they have been inspired to share the promise of blessedness made by Jesus in the Beatitudes with those who are most in need of hope, light, comfort and love.
“A bicentenary celebration such as today’s, is a fitting occasion to pay tribute to the countless Sisters of Bon Secours who have left everything and selflessly answered that call of Christ to bring his healing and his compassion into the lives of those who needed it most,” Bishop Fintan said.
At the Mass to mark the Bicentenary of the Bon Secours Sisters(Photo: Gerard McCarthy)“We are particularly grateful to the Sisters for their dedication and commitment to Catholic Healthcare here in Ireland,” he said.
Bishop Fintan also acknowledged the contribution of the Sisters to the Cork and Ross South American Mission.
“I am particularly grateful to the Sisters of Bon Secours for graciously responding to Bishop Lucey’s invitation to join many of the priests of our Diocese as Missionary Sisters in Peru from the 1960’s onwards.”
“Your Christian conviction, your commitment and your dedication to those in need meant that communities were built on the core Christian values of dignity, compassion, integrity, respect and empowerment…not to mention the strong bonds of fraternity and collaboration between the Sisters and the priests of this Diocese.”
