Jan 22, 2026
Congratulations and blessings to the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the Pacific Islands! The OLSH Sisters have officially marked the beginning of the Kiribati Province Mission in Tonga, an island located in the South Pacific Ocean.
In a Facebook post by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the OLSH Sisters wrote:
“With the support of the Australian Province, on Monday 12 January we joyfully celebrated and commemorated the beginning of the Kiribati Province Mission in Tonga.”
“We give thanks for this exciting new chapter in the life of our Congregation,” they continued, “and pray that Our Lady of the Sacred Heart will continue to guide and inspire this mission in Tonga, so that all may come to know the love of the Heart of God through the charism and mission of the Daughters.”
They finished with a fitting quote from MSC founder Fr Jules Chevalier: “With faith and love, nothing is impossible.”
Our extended Sacred Heart family have long been present in the Pacific Islands, with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart ministering in the region since 1888, while the official erection of the MSC Province of the Pacific Islands was celebrated in May 2021.
We send our heartfelt good wishes to the OLSH Sisters at the beginning of this new mission, with every blessing to them as they start this exciting new chapter.
Images via the Facebook page for the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Australia.
Mar 3, 2022
While restrictions may be easing here in Ireland, the COVID-19 pandemic remains an urgent issue in many parts of the world. The Facebook page for the MSC Province of the Pacific Islands has shared a collection of images taken by Fr Martin Everi MSC, demonstrating the relief aid offered by Fr Martin, Fr Gabby, and the parishioners of St Joseph’s Parish in Bikenibeu, Kiribati, for families affected by a recent lockdown in the Buota region.
Kiribati did not mark its first positive case of COVID-19 until May 2021; the island nation closed its borders in March 2020, with the exception of essential travel such as repatriation, and remained almost entirely COVID-free as a result. Two local seafarers tested positive for the virus in May 2021 and were quarantined immediately, and the country remained closed to international travel until January 2022 with no further cases.
The first international commercial flight in almost two years landed in Kiribati in mid-January, with 36 of the 54 passengers testing positive for the coronavirus upon arrival. The government imposed a nationwide curfew on January 19th, and the country went into lockdown on January 22nd, with the state of emergency having been extended since due to a rising number of cases.
As of the end of February, Kiribati had recorded over 2,900 positive COVID cases, and significant restrictions remain in place, with curfew hours from 7.00pm to 6.00am daily, and compulsory social distancing and mask-wearing in all public spaces.
At the end of January, shortly after lockdown was imposed, St Joseph’s Parish in Bikenibeu brought essential emergency aid to families in Buota who were severely affected by the restrictions. Fr Martin Everi MSC, who organised the outreach drive, posted on his Facebook page thanking those involved:
“Thank you so much our parishioners from the 19 sectors, from Nabeina (North Tarawa) to Taborio (South Tarawa), individuals, families, MP Betero and MP Terieta for your kind donation. From your generous gifts, we were able to deliver 3 loaded trucks of goods to our brothers and sisters in Buota during these challenging times.
Your kind donations will be given to families that are most affected due to this lockdown.
May God reward your acts of kindness.”
Please keep our MSC community in the Pacific Islands in your prayers, as they continue to help those most in need in the face of the ongoing pandemic.
Images courtesy of Fr Martin Everi MSC, via the Facebook page for the MSC Province of the Pacific Islands.
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Jun 2, 2021
It is with great joy that we celebrate with our Sacred Heart Sisters, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, on the feast day of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, which took place on May 30th.
The official Facebook page for the Kiribati Province of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart shared photos of the celebrations from across Kiribati, Samoa, and Fiji. Marking the day in style, the OLSH communities in the Pacific Ocean rejoiced with prayer, song, floral tributes – and even a slice of cake or two!
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart continue in their mission of faith and love all over the world, bringing hope to those who suffer innumerable hardships including poverty, illness, hunger, isolation, and fear. The OLSH Sisters do invaluable work on a global scale, from education projects in the Philippines, South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil, and South Sudan, to the provision of emergency aid to the survivors of domestic abuse in Kiribati. The OLSH Sisters also founded the Holy Family Care Centre in South Africa, where they currently care for 70 children who have been abandoned, abused, or are suffering the effects of serious illness such as HIV/AIDS and TB.
Over the past year, as the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc around the world, their ministry has been more valuable than ever before. Acknowledging the effects of the coronavirus across the globe, the Kiribati Sisters wrote, “May this pandemic bring new hope, trust, and love as Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, today and tomorrow.”
The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart adds their prayers to those of the Kiribati Sisters, with every grace and blessing of our extended Sacred Heart family.
Images via the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Kiribati Province on Facebook.
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Aug 22, 2019
We were delighted to welcome Sr Jenny Christie FDNSC to Cork this August, as she kindly took the time to visit the MSC Missions Office during her trip to Ireland. Sr Jenny originally hails from Australia, and now resides in Rome in her role as International Development Officer for the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH).
An invaluable branch of our Sacred Heart family tree, we have been very glad of the opportunity to work with our OLSH Sisters over the past year, with particular attention to the projects that Sr Jenny highlighted in our 2019 World Projects Appeal. The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart do truly wonderful work on a global scale, from education projects in the Philippines, South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil, and South Sudan, to the provision of emergency aid to the survivors of domestic abuse in Kiribati. The OLSH Sisters also founded the Holy Family Care Centre in South Africa, where they currently care for 70 children who have been abandoned, abused, or are suffering the effects of serious illness such as HIV/AIDS and TB.
Sr Jenny has been professed for over 29 years, and has held a number of varied ministries in that time, including teacher, educational administrator, and Provincial Councillor. She has completed Masters degrees in Education and Theological Studies, and now works tirelessly to make a difference where it is most needed in her role as International Development Officer for the OLSH.
The support of our mission friends here in the Irish Province has been a tremendous help to the OLSH Sisters around the world. “The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart would like to thank you most sincerely for the support of your prayers and interest, and for any donations to our mission areas,” says Sr Jenny. “Indeed, support such as yours help make our work possible, and for this we thank you and assure you of our continued prayers for you.”
It was wonderful to have Sr Jenny pay us a visit in person, and we look forward to working closely with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on their ongoing projects around the world.
PLEASE SUPPORT OLSH GLOBAL OUTREACH
Jan 22, 2019
An important part of the Sacred Heart family, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) work all over the world under our shared motto: “May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.”
OLSH Global Outreach Programmes
Survivors of domestic abuse in Kiribati
Kiribati is a country in the Pacific Ocean, composed of many separate islands. The Daughters have ministered there for many years.
One vital role they play is in the area of assistance to women escaping situations of domestic violence. In many cases, women often have to leave their homes in a hurry, without time to pack essentials such as clothes, toiletries, or food for their children.
€15 will provide a family with the essentials they need in an emergency situation of domestic abuse.
Catechism books in Maranhão, Brazil
In Maranhão, Brazil, the Sisters are in great need of books to help them with the teaching of the catechism. The people there are very poor and would greatly appreciate the gift of books.
€10 will buy one of the 30 books needed.
Street children in the Philippines
The Sisters in Manila provide an after-school tutoring programme for young children from a local slum area.
Many of the children work on the streets during the day, selling sweets or flowers and other small items, and so they miss out on a formal education.
This programme helps 80 children keep up with some formal study, while also providing a simple feeding scheme and a health and hygiene programme to teach these youths important life skills.
€10 will help to teach a disadvantaged child essential life skills.
Kurisanani Education Project, South Africa
The Kurisanani outreach project is run from Tzaneen, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. One element of this outreach programme is the provision of funds for vulnerable children to access education. 200 children are currently benefitting from the programme.
€15 will provide a child with a school resources pack, including pencils, pens, exercise books, and a backpack.
Educating women in South Sudan
In Mapuordit, a remote area of South Sudan, three Daughters minister to local communities. Many young women here are forced into marriage and are denied a basic education.
The Daughters here support young mothers in their return to education by providing them with bicycles and solar lamps.
The bicycles allow them freedom to travel to and from school, as well as helping with chores such as collecting water and gathering firewood. The time saved by cycling long distances, rather than walking, helps them them to keep up their studies, while the solar lamps allow the young women to study at night, despite the fact that there is no electricity in their village.
€90 will buy one bicycle and €30 will buy one solar lamp to help the education of vulnerable young women.
Convent repair in Venezuela
Three Sisters from Brazil currently minister to locals in a remote area of Venezuela. The convent here has fallen into disrepair, and the Sisters are raising funds to paint some of the damaged areas.
€100 will buy the paint required to repair the ruined areas.
OLSH saving young lives in Africa
The Holy Family Care Centre is situated at the foot of the Drakensburg Mountains, in the far north of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart founded the centre in 2001, in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Currently, 70 children are in care there.
“The children in our care come for many reasons, but always because it is a last resort – when all other avenues of care have been explored,” writes Sr Sally Duigan OLSH, Director of the Holy Family Care Centre. “They are admitted with a court order after their local social worker takes their case to the nearest magistrate.”
“The reasons for admission vary, but many children have been abandoned, sexually abused, physically abused, orphaned, or made vulnerable because of HIV/AIDS.”
“This is a place where we OLSH can really live our charism of compassionate love,” says Sr Sally. “Here, we learn to love these children unconditionally.”
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