For nearly eight years, Mercy Works Inc. has been partnering with the Diocese of Daru-Kiunga to support a number of community development projects in Papua New Guinea’s remote and mostly rural Western Province. Stephanie Thomas reports on some of these projects and how they are responding to community needs.

The issue of finding suitable housing for people who have been trafficked to Australia was on the agenda at a recent meeting in New York. What responses are being made by Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking of Humans (ACRATH)?

Information about the Sixth Institute Chapter has been placed on the public section of our Mercy website. Readers are invited to pray for the work of the Chapter both prior to it, and as it happens. Find out about the Chapter and something of our response since the last Institute Chapter. The Institute Justice Network has also included a number of papers written by some sisters as they reflected upon the four Focus Areas coming from the Fifth Institute Chapter.

Knowledge and compassion are critical life gifts as we respond to the desperate needs of people seeking a safe place in Australia, says Institute Justice Co-ordinator, Carmel Heagerty RSM. Carmel asks: “How do we respond to people who have fled their own home in fear of their lives?”

The Caringbah-based Circle of Mercy Associates Group of the Wilcannia-Forbes Congregation, recently visited the congregation centre and archives of the Parramatta Sisters of Mercy. Nance Cale RSM, who co-ordinates the group, says “everyone had an enriching and enjoyable visit."

Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College in North Sydney is believed to have become the first school in NSW to ban bottled water and offer free tap-water refills to cut down on plastic waste, reports Ben Cubby in The Sydney Morning Herald. Students at the College pushed for the ban on the sale of bottled water at the canteen. For good measure, there have also been moves to get rid of “unethical” chocolate frogs and reduce packaging in school lunches.

Sudanese refugee David Basioni has travelled a long way to find Maureen Lohrey RSM, the Melbourne nun who helped raise him. But it was chance that reunited them when both spoke at a Jesuit Refugee Service function last month, writes Adam Carey in The Age.

The Sisters of Mercy Goulburn Congregation Sesquicentenary Exhibition will go on tour again in August and September following requests from parishes in the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese and the Wagga Diocese. Download the flyer for more information.

Stage one of the redeveloped and expanded Mercy Heritage Centre in Brisbane was recently opened on the ground floor of All Hallows’ Convent. The main aim of the Centre, reports Peter Connell, the Director, is to continue the legacy of the Sisters of Mercy through educational programmes and exhibitions.

Veronica Lawson RSM (Ballarat East) offers a reflection on the readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). To access this reflection, click on "MORE" and then click on the picture of the Bible where you can read the Scripture as well as the reflection.

The third issue of the international e-journal, Mercywords, focuses on ministry in the 21st century. Editor, Carol Rittner RSM says: "My hope was that those who agreed to write would 'think outside the box', put forth ideas that would provoke us Sisters of Mercy, our Mercy Associates, and those with whom we work in our various institutions and ministries to think, discuss, and act to meet new challenges, or to meet old challenges in new ways".

The Grafton Sisters of Mercy will soon see an upgrade to their historic convent in Victoria Street Grafton after Clarence Valley Council approved an application to demolish an unused building, making space for expansion, reports The Daily Examiner. Congregation Leader, Barbara Bolster RSM, has welcomed the approval to demolish the hall. “We’re absolutely delighted,” she said.