Responding to need
Legacy and future of the Walking Nuns
Maria Wheeler rsc
The daily Corona Virus update on the ABC provided the community with the opportunity to hear the most up to date statistics regarding the impact of the virus. Additionally, the public received information about specialist facilities and services being provided to care for victims as well as measures taken to protect the community by way of vaccinations. We have heard from ICU specialists, clinicians, ambulance services, and the police to name a few. As a Sister of Charity, I felt particularly pleased to hear from a nurse from St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, in charge of organising the work being done for the disadvantaged, including caring for the sick and providing vaccination coverage.
During the press conference, she explained the hospital has two vans going into areas where people for various reasons, whether that be due to mental or physical barriers or through fear, are unable to seek the care they need. Many live in social housing without support to take them to hospital, some do not understand and are fearful of vaccination and unsure how to access these services. The St Vincent’s Hospital staff set up mobile vaccination centres in their vans, they spend time addressing their fears and organise ongoing care for those with Covid. The fact that St Vincent’s Health, in normal times, operate an emergency service that goes out to these areas, treating the homeless and others in need of medical care, means they are known to the disadvantaged community in the inner city and are trusted by them. St Vincent’s Hospital also provided the medical care for Parklea Prison where many inmates were suffering from Covid.
The Sisters of Charity started St Vincent’s Hospital in 1857, the first Catholic Hospital to be established in Sydney. The Sisters of Charity were founded in Ireland by Mary Aikenhead in 1815 to care for the poor, taking a fourth vow, Service of the Poor. They were the first religious order to go out to the people, so were often referred to as the Walking Nuns. They also set up the first St Vincent’s Hospital in Ireland. In 1838 the first five Sisters of Charity came to Australia and within days of their arrival they commenced visiting the Female Factory in Parramatta, the gaol at Darlinghurst and the disadvantaged in their homes. It was nearly twenty years before they had the means to set up their first hospital. From the very beginning in Ireland the Sisters have recognised the importance of collaborating with their co-workers to provide the best possible outcomes in ministry; as a result, with fewer Sisters today, it is our lay colleagues who are carrying on the works commenced by the sisters.
As a Sister of Charity and a volunteer at the Sisters of Charity Heritage Centre at Potts Point it makes me proud when showing people around to point out the many works commenced by the sisters but more importantly that they are continuing under the leadership of our colleagues.