Sisters of Mercy welcome newly appointed Community Leader

Recently, Sr Helen White completed her three year term of office as Northern Community Leader of the Sisters of Mercy and the newly appointed leader for this community is Sr Bev Whitton. Sr Bev was formally commissioned with a ritual in Brisbane on 3 March and the Sisters of Mercy, together with their co-workers gathered in Rockhampton on Thursday 7 March to warmly welcome Bev to their community.

Sisters of Mercy and co-workers with Sr Bev Whitton, standing furtherest on the left. 

Bev was born in Grafton, New South Wales, the youngest of five children and grew up on a farm on the outskirts of Copmanhurst, on the upper Clarence River. Educated firstly at the local state school, Bev completed her secondary education at St Mary’s College, Grafton, after which she entered the Grafton Sisters of Mercy. Following her profession in 1964, Bev taught in many schools in the Lismore Diocese including a time of ministering at St Joseph’s Children’s Home, Cowper, and then as Principal of a largely Aboriginal school in Bowraville, NSW.

Bev’s experience was broadened when she then spent twelve years in Papua New Guinea, teaching at Mercy College, Yarapos and Maprik High School, along with some initial formation for local women wishing to join the Sisters of Mercy. After study in Chicago and ten years in pastoral ministry in the Casino Parish, Bev worked in Pakistan, returning to Casino to become Pastoral Care Team leader for Southern Cross Care, Northern Rivers, NSW. After her retirement from this position, Bev remained actively involved in parish pastoral care, offering spirituality to women in remote areas and visiting aged people, especially those suffering from dementia.

Sr Bev with Srs Dolores and Gabriel

As Bev moves from Casino, the ‘Beef Capital’ of NSW to the Queensland's ‘Beef Capital’, the Sisters of Mercy thank Bev for graciously accepting this new role and we honour her ongoing commitment to serve and to be caught up anew in God’s mission of Mercy. Bev has a zest for life and is nourished daily by her love for quiet times, art, photography, gardening, the outdoors and ‘home’.

In the words of our Constitutions, we pray that all of us, together with Bev, our new Northern Community Leader, will continue to create bonds of unity and help each other to grow in fidelity to our community’s life and its mission.

Sr Joanne Molloy RSM