Rome – In some of the world’s most remote and challenging regions, schools, healthcare facilities and rehabilitation centres continue to operate thanks to the dedication of Irish religious sisters, often in places from which government agencies and NGOs have been forced to withdraw. This is the story told in the short film Lives of Mission, Lives of Hope!, produced by Colm Flynn on commission from the Embassy of Ireland to the Holy See, with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Four Irish religious sisters reflect on their vocations and their missionary experiences in Ireland and abroad.
Sister Colette Keane, OP, recounts a life devoted to mission, teaching and the founding of schools, a journey also marked by episodes of violence. In Liberia, while travelling by car with another religious sister, she was attacked and beaten by men who had stopped their vehicle. She sustained serious injuries to one eye and one ear. “I was never discouraged,” she recalls, “because I always thought: ‘I am doing what I am supposed to be doing.’” What she remembers most about that experience, however, are the positive aspects: “I found what I was looking for, and that is enough for me.”
Sister Julie Buckley, SMR, tells the story of a vocation that took shape after years away from religious practice. In the 1980s, while attending a Mass to which she had been invited, she rediscovered the Gospel and began a journey that would eventually lead her to consecrated life. Her experience as a midwife also helped guide her towards service to others. In Peru, in La Ensenada, one of Lima’s poorest areas, her Congregation runs Casa Betania, a project supporting families. The program focuses particularly on mothers and provides after-school activities for young people, some of whom have dropped out of the education system. “Women are growing in confidence and self-esteem,” she explains, “and are discovering that they have the ability and resilience to care for their children.” For Sister Julie, mission remains “an adventure” through which she has found what she was looking for, while becoming part of Ireland’s long missionary tradition.
Sister Pat Murray, CJ, who was born in Dublin, recalls discovering her vocation at the age of 12, inspired by a sister of the Sisters of Loreto. After training as a teacher, she went on to university at a time of widespread protest against both the Church and the State. Being a young religious sister in those years also meant facing criticism and mockery.
Over the course of her ministry, she has visited numerous countries, including South Sudan, where she encountered communities scarred by war during an early missionary assignment. “We spent our days simply listening to people,” she recalls, “and that taught me how important listening is.” In one church she visited during the trip, bullet marks were still visible on the crucifix.
For Sister Pat, international service has above all meant discovering the diversity of the Church and of the cultures in which it is present. One of the most important lessons, she stresses, is learning to understand and respect differences. “It has been, and still is, a real adventure, filled with love and grace.” Asked what she has given up, she replies: “Would I have liked to have children? Yes. I did not have any, but I hope to have thousands.”
The short film concludes with the story of Sister Mary Barron, OLA, who recalls feeling a strong call to Africa from a young age. Her first experience in Nigeria, in Lagos, came as a shock because of the heat, the crowds and the stark contrast with Donegal, her native county. At a time when the country was still under military rule, she put her training as a speech and language therapist at the service of children with communication difficulties.
In 1995, she left for Tanzania, then ranked as the world’s second-poorest country in terms of human development, to take up a rural missionary assignment in the Diocese of Shinyanga, where there was no running water or electricity. There, she worked primarily with women, establishing women’s groups in all 35 villages of the diocese and promoting simple initiatives to empower them. “The fundamental thing was to help people understand that they have value,” she recalls.
The experience also taught her a great deal through the women she encountered. “For me, being part of their story was a wonderful experience; I learnt so much from those women. That first mission of ours was a truly special time in my life. People always say that your first mission is the one where you leave your heart behind.”
Sister Mary also recalls her first encounter with diversity in Belfast, where she studied at university during a period of intense tension in Northern Ireland. Her experience in Africa, by contrast, offered her a different perspective. Today, she explains, missionary work continues in Europe as well, through projects for migrants and activities in multicultural parishes, with the aim of promoting integration.
The short film closes by looking ahead to the next chapter in the life of Sister Mary Teresa Barron, Superior General of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles. Pope Leo XIV appointed her Adjunct Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, in the Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches, with responsibility as President of the Pontifical Mission Societies. She will assume her new duties on January 4, 2027.
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