We are a group of women who live in religious community within the Catholic Church. We seek to centre our lives on God through ‘living contemplatively in attitude and action’(Constitutions:53). In our various ministries, we aim to give concrete expression to God’s compassionate care for all people and the whole of creation.
We were founded in 1871 in Wexford, Ireland, by Bishop Thomas Furlong, Bishop of Ferns, and Sr. Visitation Clancy, to care for the people who were suffering extreme spiritual and material poverty following the Great Famine in 1847.
As Sisters of St John of God, we are called and challenged by our recent Congregational Chapter ‘to live the present phase in the life of the Congregation with the same generosity, dedication and creativity that have characterized our journey so far.’ This journey began when the Congregation of the Sisters of St John of God was founded in Wexford, Ireland on 7th October 1871.
“The love of Christ urges us” (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
The Spirituality of our Congregation is very much that of our Founders, Bishop Thomas Furlong, Sr. Visitation Clancy and her companions and our Patron, St. John of God. Their spirituality was a response to God’s call as they discerned it through prayer and in the reality of life as it was at the time.
Learn a little about our Congregational Leadership Team. These four Sisters were elected at the Congregational Chapter 2019 held at St. John of God Retreat Centre, Safety Bay, West Australia.
