Sisters of Mercy have been ministering in Panama for over 55 years as twelve sisters from Brooklyn, New York, responded to the invitation of the Vincentian Fathers to join them in their ministry. Each of the original twelve sisters committed to living and ministering in Panama for a period of five years. Today, seven Sisters of Mercy live and minister in Panama.

The initial ministry of the Sisters of Mercy in Panama was to teach at St. Mary’s School in the Canal Zone, and they soon expanded to pastoral ministry with women and children in the mountain regions of Panama. From early years on, the sisters have tried to ‘walk with the people’ and learn the culture from them as well as the problems the people face. They have been involved in education, pastoral ministry, care of patients in a leprosy hospital.