Structure & Leadership

The Medical Missionaries of Mary is a group of women religious within the Catholic Church known as a Religious Congregation. While being independently organized and administered we are under the authority of and recognised by the Congregation for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL), Rome.

In MMM, there are three levels of organization.
Local Community

Each Sister belongs to a community of at least three members. The community chooses a local leader from among that group for a period of three years. Where numbers are small, two communities may join together to have a joint local leader. It may happen that a Sister has to live away from her community because she is involved in a collaborative ministry with another agency, or because of study. Her community supports her in every way possible and she is in frequent communication with them.

Area Level

Two or more countries form an Area and each Area has a leader and advisory council. These are usually geographic regions. Currently we have four Areas:
East African Area, West African Area, European Area, Area of the Americas

Congregational Level

The Congregational Leadership Team is composed of our Congregational Leader and three Councillors. They are based at our Congregational Centre at Rosemount in Booterstown, Co. Dublin, Ireland, but travel frequently to our various missions. Our Congregational Secretariat and our Congregational Business Administration are also located at Rosemount.

After each fixed term of office, all the Sisters elect delegates to represent them at a Congregational Chapter, which reviews the life and mission of the congregation and chooses the Congregational Leadership Team for the coming years. Everyone is expected to take an active part in prayer and in the extended preparation for the Chapter. It is intended to be a time of evaluation and renewal. While in session, the Congregational Chapter is the highest authority in MMM. The Eleventh Chapter took place in Accra, Ghana in October 2021.