CUMBERLAND — The Sisters of Mercy installed Sister Maureen Mitchell, RSM, a New Bedford, Massachusetts native and longtime Rhode Island resident, as the Northeast Community’s new president on Saturday, June 23, in a ceremony rich in prayer, blessing and song at the University of Saint Joseph’s Connor Chapel in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Other sisters installed to leadership include Sister Peg Sullivan, RSM, vice president; Sister Ruth Kelly, RSM, team member; and Sister Patty Moriarty, RSM, team member. A passion for service, which the Sisters of Mercy call their fourth vow, infused the installation ritual, as did the sisters’ mission of working for change on behalf of women, immigrants and the climate, and seeking an end to racism and violence.
In her reflections at the installation to over 150 Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Associates and Companions in Mercy, as well as family members, friends and supporters, Sister Mitchell pointed out that the words of Catherine McAuley, the order’s founder, are as alive today as they were when first spoken.
The Northeast Community leadership team’s term of service began on July 1 in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Sister Mitchell recently served as Northeast Community vice president. After accepting the nomination as president, she noted, “I feel the inner call from the Spirit, that Community leadership is where I can best use my gifts and talents at this point of my ministry, and I have heard the call of the Community, which is strong.”
Before entering Community leadership, she ministered for over a quarter century as a clinical pastoral education (CPE) supervisor—most recently for the VA New York Harbor Health Care System, where she taught seminarians and military chaplains how to spiritually accompany veterans. Sister Mitchell also served for many years as a chaplain for Home and Hospice Care of Rhode Island (now Hope Hospice & Palliative Care Rhode Island), and ministered as principal and teacher at the former Nazareth Hall schools in Attleboro and Fall River, Massachusetts.
A former member of the Medicine and Spirituality Committee at Brown University School of Medicine, Sister Mitchell has also served on numerous other committees in hospitals and hospice settings, as well as on certification committees for chaplains and clinical pastoral education (CPE) supervisors.
She earned her certification as a clinical pastoral education (CPE) supervisor through the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). Her DMin degree is from Andover Newton Theological School. She holds an MA from the University of Connecticut and a BA from Salve Regina University. Sister Mitchell is also a proud graduate of New Bedford’s former Holy Family High School.
