Of the United Nations 17 Social Development Goals, it’s the fifth – gender equality – which is arguably the most closely aligned to the mission of the Sisters of Mercy worldwide. Their founder, Catherine McAuley, wrote in the Congregation’s original rule that no work of mercy “can be more productive of good to society,
or more conducive to the happiness of the poor, than the careful instruction of women.” No matter what place in society they occupy, “their example and advice will always possess influence,” she wrote, and it is through their efforts that “peace and good order are generally to be found.”