The two congregations, with a combined 4,700 members, were among 21 groups from 12 countries granted NGO status by the United Nations in December. Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., a school founded by the Society, was also on the list of newly approved NGOs.

Sister Joan Kirby of New York, will staff the office for the two congregations until fall, when each is expected to appoint a permanent representative.

NGOs are voluntary nonprofit citizens’ groups that share in the work of the United Nations by helping to administer humanitarian programs throughout the world. Sister Kirby said the newly approved NGOs were selected from 250 organizations that applied.

“The U.N. was very interested in the fact we are an educational organization,” Sister Kirby said. “NGO status will give us access to all the issues of justice and peace on a worldwide level. We can make a great contribution to the U.N., and our participation at the U.N. will make a great contribution to the Society.”

According to a news release from the U.N.’s Department of Public Information, NGOs are expected to have the ability to reach a broad audience about the work of the United Nations. Newly approved NGOs represent a diverse range of interests, the news release said, including human rights, education, children and youth, women, economic and social development, the environment, health care, humanitarian relief, peace, alleviating poverty and assisting victims of terrorist attacks.

Sister Kirby has years of experience at the United Nations. For the past four years, she has been at the U.N. daily, five days a week, representing the Temple of Understanding, a global interfaith organization that promotes dialogue and understanding among religions.

In a letter to members of the Society last spring, the General Council — international leaders of the Society of the Sacred Heart — said the decision to apply for NGO status followed a “long discernment” process, beginning with the 1988 Chapter’s recognition that the apostolic life “has a political dimension.”

“We are aware that having NGO status at the U.N. is not a panacea for the world’s problems,” the letter said. “It is not the only way of addressing them. But if our presence at the United Nations helps one woman to stand on her feet, one child not only to believe in his/her higher destiny but to live long enough to claim it, one family to make its voice heard, we think it will be worth the effort.”

“It became increasingly clear that we did not want to miss this opportunity to put our many resources and the strength of our internationality at the service of those who lack access to an organization which, for all its faults, continues to symbolize the possibility of a world where nations, races, religions and ethnic groups can work out their differences in order to live together in peace and harmony; where men and women of different backgrounds and cultures can become the human family created in God’s image,” the letter said.

In early February, a member of the international governing council from each of the two congregations attended an orientation session at the U.N. for newly accredited NGOs. Sister Jane Maltby represented the Society’s General Council. Sister Patricia Murray represented the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Both Sister Maltby, a native of England, and Sister Murray, a native of Ireland, work at their congregations’ headquarters in Rome.

The congregations join more than two dozen other Catholic religious orders and 1,500 other organizations that hold NGO status at the United Nations. The Institute has 1,200 members in 18 countries; the Society has 3,500 members in 44 countries.

Related Links:
From May, 2002: Society Seeks United Nations Role