Whakaruruhau mō ngā iwi katoa – shelter for all

From almost the day of their arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1850, the Sisters of Mercy have cared for those without a home of their own. The first of these were eight orphan girls, attending the primary school for which the sisters assumed responsibility shortly after their arrival in Auckland. Archivist Sr Marcienne Kirk says that some of these were almost certainly Māori, abandoned as the result of the breakup of relationships common in a port of that time, or victims of family tragedy, illness or war. “By August 1850 there were 18 in the St Patrick’s orphanage and the number grew.”

Wherever the Sisters of Mercy went in New Zealand, the pattern was repeated…

© Shelter For All Logo Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand