A religious community are in shock today following a horror crash involving five nuns in Sydney’s west overnight.
Emergency services were called to a property in Mulgoa following reports a car had crashed into a tree and rolled down an embankment about 8.45pm on 9 November.
“Last night, five of the Sisters of Mt Schoenstatt were involved in a single car accident on their property in Mulgoa,” a spokesperson for the Diocese of Parramatta told The Catholic Weekly.
“Emergency services arrived quickly on the scene, and all were taken to hospital. All of the Sisters suffered various injuries, however one is in critical condition in hospital. We ask for prayers for all the Sisters of Mt Schoenstatt during this difficult time.”
The sisters, one aged 100, were driving on Fairlight Road when the accident happened.
One of the sisters was airlifted to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition with head injuries while four others sustained only minor injuries.
Scores of people took to social media asking for prayers for the injured.
One posted “please pray for the sisters” while another wrote “St Padre Pio, St Rita of Cascia and St Jude Thaddeus, please intercede”.
A spokeswoman for the Schoenstatt Shrine said the mostly elderly order of sisters were today in complete shock.
She asked for prayers for not only the five sisters involved in the crash but for their larger community.
The Schoenstatt Shrine is part of an Apostolic movement founded in Germany in 1914.
Schoenstatt sisters have worked across Sydney and the country for decades.
Since it opened in Sydney more than 50 years ago, the Mulgoa Shrine has been a spiritual oasis for people from all walks of life including families, single people, youth, consecrated brothers and sisters and clergy.
The focal point of the Schoenstatt Movement is the Shrine which members consider their spiritual home.
There are now more than 200 replicas of the shrine around the world, three of which are in Australia including Mulgoa in NSW, Kew in Victoria and Mount Richon in Western Australia.
The sisters are involved in a number of ministries including pastoral care, health care, international mission work, retreat and spirituality centres and education.