Faithful to a Vision
The Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict are a group of religious women within the Catholic Church who seek God – the God who impels us to be neighbour.
We were the first religious Congregation founded in Australia, and as our name suggests, our work and prayer are both enlivened by the Parable of the Good Samaritan and nourished by the ancient wisdom of the Rule of St Benedict.
We were co-founded in 1857 by Archbishop John Bede Polding, an English Benedictine monk; and Mother Scholastica Gibbons, an Irish Sister of Charity. From the outset, we committed ourselves to assisting vulnerable women and children in the fledgling penal colony of Sydney.
For more than 160 years, we have responded to God’s invitation to be neighbour in community together with other like-minded women. We commit ourselves to seeking God, to be of service to others and to a communal way of life.
Our work in responding to the call to be neighbour in different ways, times and places continues to this day, fulfilling Polding’s vision for us as missionary Benedictines in the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit.
Who is my neighbour?
Luke 10:29
