Mags GarganAfter 143 years of service to the people of Belfast the Sisters of Bon Secours are withdrawing from the North.
The Bon Secours Sisters set up a ministry in Belfast in 1872 and lived for many years on the Falls Road, courageously facing the reality of life in Belfast, visiting the poor, nursing the sick and dying in their homes, and providing residential care and a hospital chaplaincy service.
In 1975 when a bomb damaged their house they moved to Andersonstown, where they remained until 2008. Sr Consilia Dennehy SBS, the last sister based in Belfast, is now returning to the Bon Secours community in Cork after 34 years of ministering to the families of St Agnes parish, the prisoners in Long Kesh and the families and catechists involved in SPRED.
“My departure will mean the end of our ministry here. Of course, I feel great sadness but I also can celebrate the many signs of new growth and flourishing in this community and city,” Sr Consilia said.
A Mass will be celebrated in thanksgiving for the 143 years of the service of Bon Secours in Belfast on Monday, November 2, the Feast of The Holy Souls at 10am in St Agnes Church.