'InterContinent' was the Society’s internal, central communications bulletin, published between 1968 and 2020 - with a special edition also published in 2022. It evolved from being a simple newsletter intended to keep sisters abreast of progress after the 1967 General Chapter, to becoming a focal part of the Society’s new communications strategy.

In the Medical Missionary magazine in 1965, Sister M. Benet, Mistress of Postulants and Novices in Poona, India, describes how those young women under her charge are “rich in promise” and the following description is given: 

The term “mandala” comes from the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, which means “circle.”

As psychoanalyst, CG Jung, wrote: “I sketched every morning in a notebook a small circular drawing, a mandala, which seemed to correspond to my inner situation at the time… Only gradually did I discover what the mandala really is: … the Self, the wholeness of the personality, which if all goes well, is harmonious.”

In 2003, the Twelfth General Chapter was held in Nairobi, Kenya - a General Chapter being a time of community discernment and decision-making.  It was the first time such a gathering had been held in Africa. 

As many of you will know, modern day saint, Saint Mother Teresa, came to learn how to care for the sick and the dying at the Society’s Holy Family Hospital in Patna, India, in the 1940s before setting up her own Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta - now usually known as Kolkata. 

May is often called the Month of Mary.  It is a month traditionally dedicated to Mary, Mother of God, in the days after Easter and a month for finding springtime regeneration.

Between 4th - 11th May 2025, a number of Medical Mission Sisters and Associates from across the world will travel to Steeg in the Austrian Tyrol where the Society’s founder, Anna Dengel, was born. 

Easter cards, April 1973

For the year 1973, we are viewing some of the handmade Easter cards sent by Medical Mission Sisters, serving at Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.  During the time of the hospital’s handover to local administration, the cards were sent to the Society’s founder, Anna Dengel, in April 1973. 

The Medical Missionary magazine in the winter of 1969 is dedicated to being young and involved.  The introduction to it states: 

Sister Rosemary Ryan has sent this recollection of a concert performed by the Medical Mission Sisters at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1967.  It shows how singing is a part of healing.  

She writes: