Dengel receives an honorary doctorate (Nijmegen, 1958)
English Logo of the Medical Mission Sisters

The Medical Mission Sisters (MMS) is a religious congregation of women in the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in September 1925 with a goal of providing better access to health care to poor people around the world.[1][2] They were formerly known as the "Society of the Catholic Medical Missions."

History

The MMS congregation grew out of the experiences of Dr. Anna Dengel, who is originally from Austria.[3] Dengel served as a medical missionary for several years in what was then Northern India (modern-day Pakistan).[4][5] Dengel became convinced that only a group of Religious Sisters who had been professionally trained as physicians could reach the women in that region. Such a project, however, was contrary to the canon law of the time, since it prohibited members of religious institutes from practicing medicine.[6][7]

Dengel made plans for a new community and drew up a constitution for it. She wrote that the members were “to live for God...to dedicate themselves to the service of the sick for the love of God and...to be properly trained according to the knowledge and standards of the time in order to practice medicine in its full scope, to which the Sisters were to dedicate their lives”.

Permission was granted on June 12, 1925, to begin the new congregation and, on September 30, 1925, the “First Four” - Dr. Anna Dengel of Austria, Dr. Johanna Lyons of Chicago, Evelyn Flieger, R.N., originally from Britain, and Marie Ulbrich, R.N., of Luxemburg, Iowa - came together in Washington, D.C. to begin the Medical Mission Sisters.[8][9]

The “First Four” were unable to profess religious vows officially because the Catholic Church had yet to approve Sisters working in the medical field, [6] but they chose to live as professed Sisters. In 1935, the Catholic Church changed its regulations and approved Sisters’ working in medicine and all of its branches.[10] The MMS then made their public, canonical vows, and began to establish communities around the world.

Governance

The North American headquarters for the Congregation was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1964.

The General Chapter meets every six years to re-interpret the Society’s mission. It will also elect the Society Co-Ordinator (Superior General) and the Society Leadership Team.[11]

Music

In 1964 the Sisters followed the example of The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire) and began singing their own homegrown brand of spiritually-themed folk music as an aide to the medical health and wellness they professed.

The following year one of the most prolific of these composers, Sister Miriam Therese Winter composed Joy is Like the Rain, which became a Grammy-award-winning worldwide hit.[12] Response was so strong to the song that other songs were written and a marathon eight-hour recording session was commissioned in Philadelphia in early 1966.[13]

Beginnings of international hospitals

In 1965, at the request of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Mother Anna made a visit to that nation to investigate the possibilities of starting a hospital for the people there. Two Medical Mission Sisters came to Ethiopia in 1967 to start the groundwork for this mission. A few more Sisters arrived in 1969, and Attat Hospital was opened that year.[14] In 2022, the Medical Director, Sister Rita Schiffer, received the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation Award.[15]

Current status

As of 2023, there are about 450 Sisters in the congregation, serving in 20 nations, as well as over 100 lay Associates.[16]

The Sisters serve through health care and education, wholeness and wellness programs, the development of women, work for justice, worship and spirituality, and music and song. Along with their Associates, they have committed themselves to live the mission of the Society, which is "to be a healing presence at the heart of a wounded world.".[17] Their work includes:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mission & History". Medical Mission Sisters and Associates. August 26, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  2. ↑ Heuser, Herman Joseph (1950). The American Ecclesiastical Review. Catholic University of America Press.
  3. ↑ The Catholic Witness, Newspaper of the Diocese of Harrisburg (2013-08-16). "Local Medical Mission Sister Celebrates 60th Jubilee (page 14 of the diocese newsletter in 2013)" (PDF). The Catholic Witness - Newspaper of Diocese of Harrisburg. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  4. ↑ "Medical Mission Sisters UK, MMS-UK, History, Anna Dengel, Agnes McLaren". daphnen.members.gn.apc.org. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  5. ↑ "Medical Mission Sisters". KHF Hospital. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  6. 1 2 lorenc (2021-05-27). "Webinar dedicated the extraordinary legacy of Dr. Anna Dengel". Consulate of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  7. ↑ Medical Mission Sisters, (1935 petition to change the Canon Law was granted (2018-09-10). "Medical Mission Sisters". Catholic Historical Research Center of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Retrieved 2023-04-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Medical Mission Sisters | Committed to promote healing and wholeness in the Spirit of Jesus the Healer | History". www.mmssouthindia.org. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  9. ↑ The Criterion, The Medical Missions Sisters (In The Vineyard) Page 7 (1963-07-19). "The Criterion - July 1963" (PDF). Archindy.com. Retrieved 2023-04-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ MMS-UK website
  11. ↑ MMS-UK website, Retrieved 2023-04-27
  12. ↑ Joy is Like the Rain
  13. ↑ All Music website
  14. ↑ Ethiopian Catholic Church Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ MMS-UK website
  16. ↑ MMS-UK website, Retrieved 2023-04-27
  17. ↑ Sr. Anna Polcino, The Linacare Quarterly 1993 (1993-11-01). "The role of medicine in affirming the human adventure; ISSN: 0024-3639 (Print) 2050-8549 (Online) Journal homepage". www.tandfonline.com. doi:10.1080/20508549.1993.11878232. Retrieved 2023-04-05.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ↑ Medical Mission Sisters website
  19. ↑ Kolodziej, Maureen (2006). "Sister McKenna speaks about her call to serve". Collegian. La Salle University. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  20. ↑ Katting, Heidi (6 June 2018). "Heilig Kreuz - Zentrum für christliche Meditation und Spiritualität - Team - Über uns (=Holy Cross - Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality - Team - About us)" (in German). Heilig Kreuz - Zentrum für christliche Meditation und Spiritualität. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  21. ↑ Medical Missionary Sisters. "Missionsärztliche Schwestern in Frankfurt (=Medical Missionary Sisters in Frankfurt)" (in German). Retrieved 13 April 2021.
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