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Charism of the SSCC -
Inspired by the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary we
want to reach out in
love and compassion
to the world
Adventure Retreats Ireland is an outreach youth initiative of The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts, a worldwide Catholic missionary order represented by the abbreviation SS.CC. after its Latin name Sacrorum Cordium. The project is a joint initiative between the priests/brothers and sisters of the Congregation in close collaboration with its lay associate friends and supporters. It has three objectives;
To encourage and promote value systems among young people for a healthy caring society
To provide parish and school groups with a venue and programme for ongoing youth leadership, faith formation and spiritual development.
To increase awareness of the Congregation's charism among young people
There are over 1500 in the Congregation made up priests, brothers and sisters as well as lay associate members in over 30 countries throughout the world. In Ireland, the Congregation are involved in parish as well as school chaplaincy work in west Dublin. Their provincial and community house for both sisters and priests/brothers is based in Ranelagh near Dublin city centre. They also have a community house attached to the Adventure Retreats project near Cootehill with a pastoral outreach to the neighbouring counties of Cavan and Monaghan. They are very involved in supporting missionary activities overseas and are active in school chaplaincy. Bishop Patrick Lynch of Southwark and retired Bishop Brendan Comiskey are both well-known members of the Congregation. In England, the congregation is active in parish work in Ealing, Acton and Nunhead in South London.
Perhaps the best known member of the Congregation is Fr Damien de Veuster SS.CC. of Molokai also known as the 'leper priest'. He was considered to be the Mother Theresa of his time and spent over 16 years of his life selflessly caring for over 8000 leprosy patients banished to the leprosy colony of Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands. Eventually he succumbed to the illness himself and died in 1889 on Molokai. He was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome on October 11th 2009.
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