who we are

The Good Samaritan Sisters are an Australian Congregation founded in 1857 by Archbishop Polding, an English Benedictine monk and the first Bishop of Australia.

The lesson of the Good Samaritan parable and the influence of our Benedictine spirit provide our particular inspiration.

We work in a variety of ministries.  Some may be called to serve in the Congregation’s original ministries of education and social work.  Others find themselves more at the cutting edge.  The Sisters can be found working in parishes, in prisons, in respite and residential care.  They may work in collaboration with other religious congregations or Christian churches or even in non-church situations where an alternative gospel vision of human dignity is needed.

Whatever their ministries, the Sisters of the Good Samaritan try to respond with energy, compassion, professionalism and adaptability. Their approach is usually a simple reaction to the observed needs of the time, an attempt to pour healing ‘oil and wine’ in imitation of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel.  While this response is always proactive, it need not be spectacular.  It is often quite ordinary and as surprising as the parable of the Good Samaritan itself.

The Sisters make hospitality a special focus, offering their homes and hearts as places of welcome.  They attempt to imitate the Benedictine practice described by Joan Chittister OSB: Everyone is received as Christ.  Everyone receives a warm answer, on the phone, at the door, in the office.  Every guest is received with the same warmth and the same care, the same dignity and the same attention.”