In 2024 there are seven ministries sponsored by and reporting to the Congregational Leadership Team: St. Patrick’s Mercy Home, St. Patrick’s Mercy Home Foundation, St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital Advisory Council, The Gathering Place, Mercy Centre for Ecology and Justice, Belvedere Orphanage Fund and Misericordia Mission Fund.
Most of these ministries have legal status according to the Companies Act (Province of Newfoundland and Labrador), have a Board of Directors and a certain level of autonomy in the governance and management of their specific activities. Some have registered charity status according to Canadian Federal Government regulations.
As the members of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland increase in age and diminish in numbers the Congregation, in conversation with colleagues, is presently engaged in a discernment process regarding the future. A decision was made by the general assembly of the sisters, the 22 General Chapter (2021), to establish a legal entity that would oversee and carry out the governance of the various “sponsored ministries” of the Congregation. That entity, a legal corporation, was registered on August 10, 2023 as Mercy Wellsprings, Incorporated. As of January 1, 2025 Mercy Wellsprings has been acknowledged as a registered charity.
Purposes
- to improve the effectiveness of other registered charities by providing expertise on planning, structuring, and improving charitable programs to better address the needs of beneficiaries.
- to raise and distribute funds to any “qualified donee” (as the term is defined by subsection 149.1(1) of the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1958, c.1 (5th Supp.)) provided that the Corporation shall not contribute to any “qualified donee” unless such “qualified donee” shall prohibit the distribution of its or their income and property amongst its or their members to an extent at least as great as is imposed upon the Corporation.
- to undertake activities ancillary and incidental to the attainment of the above purposes.
Sponsored Ministries of the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland
St. Patrick’s Mercy Home Foundation
St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital Advisory Council
Mercy Centre for Ecology and Justice
Misericordia Mission Fund
Belvedere Orphanage Fund
