Confronted with poverty and the oppression of women throughout Ireland in the 1800s, Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy on December 12, 1831. Catherine visualized the education of women as a means to effect social change and help women discover and achieve their full potential. It is this philosophy that is the foundation of the many educational institutions sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy.
After traveling to the United States and settling in Pittsburgh, the Sisters were invited to share their ministry with the Diocese of Portland in 1865, establishing educational, medical and social services for the surrounding community.
Close to twenty years later, in 1881, St. Joseph’s Academy was instituted – a private all-girls school for both resident and day students. Cathedral High School, also a private high school for young women, was opened in 1909 across town, for day students only. By 1969, both schools merged to form Catherine McAuley High School, a 9-12 day school named in honor of the Sisters’ foundress. The new school was built upon the grounds of the Motherhouse on Stevens Avenue in Portland.
Today, the Northeast Community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas continues to sponsor Catherine McAuley High School. It is this rich tradition of academic excellence that encourages young women to be challenged in their thinking and fully prepared for leadership opportunities in their school, in their community…and beyond.
It is the philosophy of Catherine McAuley High School to educate young women as whole people through the core values inherent in our Judeo-Christian heritage:
- Compassion and Service
- Educational Excellence
- Concern for Women and Women’s Issues
- Global Vision and Responsibility
- Spiritual Growth and Development
- Collaboration
Through the integration of these principles, and with the example of Mother McAuley herself as a guide, Catherine McAuley High School enables each student to become a “Woman of Mercy”: well-educated, self-disciplined, enriched by diversity, able to lead and willing to serve others.
McAuley is poised to continue this very same tradition of Mercian education throughout the 21st Century.
“No work of charity can be more productive of good to society… than the careful instruction of women.” – Catherine McAuley