[Applause]
appearing on TED talk is something very
unexpected for me but I’m honored to be
included among the many luminaries that
have graced this stage but along with
the honor I realized that there was a
major obligation how could I have
something to say that would be of
interest to my listeners and I wondered
what does have any impact whatever I
said and that would impact a struck a
chord because a few months ago I was
invited to give a talk at the Catholic
National Catholic University in Canberra
to the senior leaders and their their
main their brand is impact through
empathy so today and for a different
sitting I thought I could delve again
into that same theme and by looking back
on my long life share with you through
stories some instances as I have
experienced them of the benefits of
impact through empathy it seems to me
that if we are to stand up and be
counted we need a great deal of love in
our hearts there’s a whole world out
there desperately in need of impact
through empathy Hubert Humphrey jr. who
served as vice president of the United
States of America from 1963 to 1969 and
he was a known spokesman for justice and
compassion he had this to say about the
role of government in the role of
suffering the moral test of government
is how it treats those who are in the
dawn of life the children those who are
in the twilight of life the aged and
those in the shadows of life the sick
the needy and the handicapped in
Australia in 1980s
kans a very serious question of how best
to respond to the hiv/aids issue this
was a divisive community question which
resulted in only some being willing to
become involved in Queensland the
premiere of the day stated in the daily
paper that when these people became ill
nobody should help them in their illness
because their illness was a direct
punishment from God he believed this and
at the time he was a popular political
figure as well there was widespread fear
that the virus could be acquired simply
by touching the clothes of somebody we
met in the bus you may remember how
dramatic it was when Princess Diana
shook the hands of a man known to have
the virus as Sisters of Mercy founder
for the poor the sick education and for
the needy particularly people with unmet
needs
we waited I did many others we waited
for the medical profession the churches
anyone to speak out against this stance
of government but nothing happened
the president of the queensland aids
council approached our congregational
leader at the time to ask if we may help
as the public face of the matter
hospital at the time i was the obvious
person to help or establish a link
across the three groups Queens and AIDS
Council the Sisters of Mercy and the
matter hospitals Brisbane at the outset
I could foresee some serious problems I
knew nothing of the virus nothing of how
it was was not transmitted and I
wondered how I could be of assistance to
people whom I had never met and about
who his lifestyle or needs I knew
nothing as well-dressed as I am and as I
was I could see it could seem to the men
that I was just descending on them
merely to impose values or to express
judgments
as a prerequisite for any help I might
give however when I perceived as
problems actually became moments of
learning for us all in a public
statement we announced the Sisters of
Mercy wish to offer compassionate
non-judgmental support to those who need
it we will not impose services but we
request that we be allowed to walk
alongside those who have HIV AIDS and to
be available when needed the martyr
provided the AIDS Council with a meeting
place office space and three houses
rent-free so fearful was the average
person of acquiring the disease that
these men knew what they must not under
any circumstances reveal to anybody
particularly neighbors what their
medical condition was however one of our
specialist medical physicians and said
to me bring them to my outpatient clinic
and I’ll see them so there they said
comfortably among all the other patients
nobody knew I spent many evenings with
groups of these men in their hideouts in
Stanley Street South Brisbane listening
to their needs to determine how I could
help as it turned out wearing religious
garb far from being a deterrent enabled
me to go to places where other women
might hesitate to go it’s strange now to
look back on those times our involvement
though was not without serious risk we
were acting against the wishes of the
premier on whose government we depended
for support for our three public
hospitals to complicate matters further
because the Queensland Government would
not provide financial aid to the local
aids council these was sort of a rare
secret agreement between the federal
government and the matter was created
for about two years without the
knowledge of the premier and with the
guarded approval of the MARTA board
federal monies for the Queen today’s
council came directly to the matter
years later I read that the then Federal
Minister for health dr. nian Blewett
described the Sisters of Mercy as the
most altruistic of money launderers
[Applause]
but for us these were worrying and
dangerous times
despite that our task was not to judge
but to help where we could and that’s
what we did for me there were many
learning curves as you can imagine I was
so ignorant of the whole situation but
one incident remains embedded in my mind
the president of the AIDS Council
invited me to attend a mass that was to
be celebrated in a unit in Dutton Park
Brisbane and at the bedside of a man who
was dying of AIDS on arrival at the
bedside I realized that the man was near
death
there were only four persons in the room
because in those days it was a practice
of somebody once he discovered that he
had the virus to advise his family that
he had been fortunate enough to get a
very good position in another state so I
knew that this man had no near relatives
in Brisbane at the end of Mass when it
was obvious that the man had died his
partner threw himself across the bed in
a paroxysm of grief and I stood there
looking at them and I realized that here
were two men loved by God as much as all
others and I are loved so I bent down
put my arms around him raised him up and
held him at that moment the strange
outcome of it all was that all my fear
about not knowing how to help these men
left me I realized it was all a matter
of love for about seven years we
continued to work with these men after
which time they were able to deal
directly with the community and with the
Queensland government because there had
been a change of government now a
finalist story some years ago my sister
and I were on holidays in Ireland our
family took us to see the Celtic furrow
a Center the trace
is cultural historical and spiritual
roots in Ireland over 5,000 years all
graphically depicted we view beautiful
gardens fountains stonework bog oaks and
murals informing us of the golden age of
Christianity in Ireland when art culture
and learning flourished they followed a
walk through a meandering labyrinth
which depicted a thousand years of stand
history in Ireland persecution invasion
and famine all took toll on our
ancestors but they remained a people of
hope as symbolized by the Celtic cross
that stands resolutely in the center of
the labyrinth as we emerged from the
labyrinth we were confronted by a
message rich large over the exit the
message read 3080 we are what we are
today mainly because of your decisions
so I ask you today how do you make
decisions about others are you
judgmental or do you bring empathy into
your relationships with others
regardless of the circumstances the
founders of the Sisters of Mercy
Catherine McAuley answered this question
she described three levels of care
sympathy which can be an intellectual
understanding that others are suffering
but it can be all brain and not much
heart empathy a genuine understanding of
others which engages the brain and the
heart but Catherine defined an even
greater calling compassion mercy which
she described as having an exquisite
nose for the sufferings of others this
is a lovely standard to which we should
all aspire in every relationship we have
and I believe it’s the key to
having a real and positive impact on the
lives of those around us and even on our
loved country may God bless each one of
us
[Applause]
[Music]
you
appearing on TED talk is something very
unexpected for me but I’m honored to be
included among the many luminaries that
have graced this stage but along with
the honor I realized that there was a
major obligation how could I have
something to say that would be of
interest to my listeners and I wondered
what does have any impact whatever I
said and that would impact a struck a
chord because a few months ago I was
invited to give a talk at the Catholic
National Catholic University in Canberra
to the senior leaders and their their
main their brand is impact through
empathy so today and for a different
sitting I thought I could delve again
into that same theme and by looking back
on my long life share with you through
stories some instances as I have
experienced them of the benefits of
impact through empathy it seems to me
that if we are to stand up and be
counted we need a great deal of love in
our hearts there’s a whole world out
there desperately in need of impact
through empathy Hubert Humphrey jr. who
served as vice president of the United
States of America from 1963 to 1969 and
he was a known spokesman for justice and
compassion he had this to say about the
role of government in the role of
suffering the moral test of government
is how it treats those who are in the
dawn of life the children those who are
in the twilight of life the aged and
those in the shadows of life the sick
the needy and the handicapped in
Australia in 1980s
kans a very serious question of how best
to respond to the hiv/aids issue this
was a divisive community question which
resulted in only some being willing to
become involved in Queensland the
premiere of the day stated in the daily
paper that when these people became ill
nobody should help them in their illness
because their illness was a direct
punishment from God he believed this and
at the time he was a popular political
figure as well there was widespread fear
that the virus could be acquired simply
by touching the clothes of somebody we
met in the bus you may remember how
dramatic it was when Princess Diana
shook the hands of a man known to have
the virus as Sisters of Mercy founder
for the poor the sick education and for
the needy particularly people with unmet
needs
we waited I did many others we waited
for the medical profession the churches
anyone to speak out against this stance
of government but nothing happened
the president of the queensland aids
council approached our congregational
leader at the time to ask if we may help
as the public face of the matter
hospital at the time i was the obvious
person to help or establish a link
across the three groups Queens and AIDS
Council the Sisters of Mercy and the
matter hospitals Brisbane at the outset
I could foresee some serious problems I
knew nothing of the virus nothing of how
it was was not transmitted and I
wondered how I could be of assistance to
people whom I had never met and about
who his lifestyle or needs I knew
nothing as well-dressed as I am and as I
was I could see it could seem to the men
that I was just descending on them
merely to impose values or to express
judgments
as a prerequisite for any help I might
give however when I perceived as
problems actually became moments of
learning for us all in a public
statement we announced the Sisters of
Mercy wish to offer compassionate
non-judgmental support to those who need
it we will not impose services but we
request that we be allowed to walk
alongside those who have HIV AIDS and to
be available when needed the martyr
provided the AIDS Council with a meeting
place office space and three houses
rent-free so fearful was the average
person of acquiring the disease that
these men knew what they must not under
any circumstances reveal to anybody
particularly neighbors what their
medical condition was however one of our
specialist medical physicians and said
to me bring them to my outpatient clinic
and I’ll see them so there they said
comfortably among all the other patients
nobody knew I spent many evenings with
groups of these men in their hideouts in
Stanley Street South Brisbane listening
to their needs to determine how I could
help as it turned out wearing religious
garb far from being a deterrent enabled
me to go to places where other women
might hesitate to go it’s strange now to
look back on those times our involvement
though was not without serious risk we
were acting against the wishes of the
premier on whose government we depended
for support for our three public
hospitals to complicate matters further
because the Queensland Government would
not provide financial aid to the local
aids council these was sort of a rare
secret agreement between the federal
government and the matter was created
for about two years without the
knowledge of the premier and with the
guarded approval of the MARTA board
federal monies for the Queen today’s
council came directly to the matter
years later I read that the then Federal
Minister for health dr. nian Blewett
described the Sisters of Mercy as the
most altruistic of money launderers
[Applause]
but for us these were worrying and
dangerous times
despite that our task was not to judge
but to help where we could and that’s
what we did for me there were many
learning curves as you can imagine I was
so ignorant of the whole situation but
one incident remains embedded in my mind
the president of the AIDS Council
invited me to attend a mass that was to
be celebrated in a unit in Dutton Park
Brisbane and at the bedside of a man who
was dying of AIDS on arrival at the
bedside I realized that the man was near
death
there were only four persons in the room
because in those days it was a practice
of somebody once he discovered that he
had the virus to advise his family that
he had been fortunate enough to get a
very good position in another state so I
knew that this man had no near relatives
in Brisbane at the end of Mass when it
was obvious that the man had died his
partner threw himself across the bed in
a paroxysm of grief and I stood there
looking at them and I realized that here
were two men loved by God as much as all
others and I are loved so I bent down
put my arms around him raised him up and
held him at that moment the strange
outcome of it all was that all my fear
about not knowing how to help these men
left me I realized it was all a matter
of love for about seven years we
continued to work with these men after
which time they were able to deal
directly with the community and with the
Queensland government because there had
been a change of government now a
finalist story some years ago my sister
and I were on holidays in Ireland our
family took us to see the Celtic furrow
a Center the trace
is cultural historical and spiritual
roots in Ireland over 5,000 years all
graphically depicted we view beautiful
gardens fountains stonework bog oaks and
murals informing us of the golden age of
Christianity in Ireland when art culture
and learning flourished they followed a
walk through a meandering labyrinth
which depicted a thousand years of stand
history in Ireland persecution invasion
and famine all took toll on our
ancestors but they remained a people of
hope as symbolized by the Celtic cross
that stands resolutely in the center of
the labyrinth as we emerged from the
labyrinth we were confronted by a
message rich large over the exit the
message read 3080 we are what we are
today mainly because of your decisions
so I ask you today how do you make
decisions about others are you
judgmental or do you bring empathy into
your relationships with others
regardless of the circumstances the
founders of the Sisters of Mercy
Catherine McAuley answered this question
she described three levels of care
sympathy which can be an intellectual
understanding that others are suffering
but it can be all brain and not much
heart empathy a genuine understanding of
others which engages the brain and the
heart but Catherine defined an even
greater calling compassion mercy which
she described as having an exquisite
nose for the sufferings of others this
is a lovely standard to which we should
all aspire in every relationship we have
and I believe it’s the key to
having a real and positive impact on the
lives of those around us and even on our
loved country may God bless each one of
us
[Applause]
[Music]
you
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