Teresa Kearney
Mary Kevin Kearny was an Irish–American teacher, Franciscan Sister, and missionary, who founded the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa in 1952. Born in Arklow, Ireland on 28 April 1875, she became a Junior Assistant Mistress at 17 and taught in Essex, England. On 2 December 1902, she left to begin missionary work in Nsambya, Uganda, working as a Franciscan Sister of Saint Mary's Abbey, Mill Hill, London.
Kearney's work in East Africa resulted in the formation of multiple hospitals and training of nurses throughout the region. Her name serves as the root of the word Kevina, which means "hospital" or "charity institute" in Uganda. On 6 November 2016, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lugazi opened her formal beatification process, securing her the title Servant of God.
Early life
Family
Teresa Kearney was born in Knockenrahan, Arklow, County Wicklow, on 28 April 1875 as the third daughter of farmer Michael Kearney and Teresa Kearney. Three months prior to Kearney's birth, her father died in an accident. Following his death, Kearney's mother remarried and had three more children. When Kearney was ten years old, her mother died. Her maternal grandmother, Grannie Grenell, then raised Kearney in Curranstown, County Wicklow. Grannie Grenell had a profound impact on Kearny's spiritual beliefs and deep faith. When Kearney was 17, Grannie Grenell died.Education
Kearney attended local convent school in Arklow following her mother's death. In 1889, following her grandmother's death, Kearney went to convent of Mercy at Rathdrum, to train as an assistant teacher. She did not have the finances to pay for training, and became a Junior Assistant Mistress. A year later, she went to teach in a school run by the Sisters of Charity in Essex.Career
Early work
Kearney became a Junior Assistant Mistress at 17 and taught in Essex, England.Missionary work
Following the death of her grandmother, Kearney turned toward thoughts of religious life. She believed that God was calling her to be a sister, and she applied for admission to the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Five Wounds at Mill Hill, London. In 1895, Kearney entered St Mary's Abbey, Mill Hill, London. On 21 April 1898 she took the name Sister Mary Kevin of the Sacred Passion. Her motto was "For Thee, Lord." She volunteered to work with African Americans in London. She waited three years for a posting to the American mission, but when the call from a foreign mission came, it came from Africa.Path to Uganda
On 3 December 1902, Kearney and five other sisters left London for Nsambya, Uganda. They were chosen at the request of Bishop Hanlon of the Mill Hill Fathers. The sisters arrived on 15 January 1903 and established a dispensary and school in the Buganda. "Their task was to care for the women and girls and to further weaken the association of Catholicism with French missionaries and Protestantism with British missionaries in the then British Protectorate." Among the sisters were three Irish, one American, one English, and one Scottish woman.Kearney started her first clinic under a mango tree near the convent. The first seven years of missionary work were tough for the sisters. Various diseases, from smallpox to malaria, ravaged Buganda. The infant mortality rate was also relatively high due to the high frequency of maternal deaths. In 1906, Kearney expanded the missionary and set up a hospital in Nagalama, twenty-three miles away. Following Sister Paul's illness and return to the United States in 1910, Kearney was appointed the new superior of the convent. In 1913, three more sisters arrived, which allowed Kearney to establish a third mission station in Kamuli, Busoga. All three stations focused on medicine and education for the local population with a focus on primary and secondary education, training of nurses, and the founding of clinics, hospitals and orphanages.