Chronicle

Heal the sick and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' This mission entrusted by Jesus (Luke 10, 9) stands as the very beginning of the Christian hospital. Since the days of the Apostles and the first Christian communities, the care for the sick and the suffering is one of the main tasks of the Church.

The Council at Nicaea (in 325) listed them as one of the Bishop’s duties.

Likewise, during the Middle Ages, healthcare in hospitals and hospices was almost exclusively in the hands of convents, orders and church foundations. The first hospital in Austria was built in 1203 by the German Order in Friesach.

Today, the support of people with terminal illnesses is a special challenge. The Convent-run hospitals in Austria have become forerunners in the establishment of hospices.

Order of the Sisters of St Elizabeth

Convent
Foundation:	1622 in Aachen from Apollonia Radermecher
Foundation in Austria:	1690 (in Graz)
Convent-run hospital
Foundation:	1745 in Linz

Order of the Sisters of Mercy

Convent
Foundation:	1633 in Paris by St Vinzenz de Paul and St Louise de Marillac
Foundation in Austria:	1832 in Vienna
Hospitals
Foundation:	1841 Linz
	1855 Ried

Order of the Franciscan Sisters

Convent
Foundation:	1850 in Vöcklabruck by Sebastian Schwarz
Hospitals
	Braunau: founded 1856, taken over by the Franciscan Sisters in 1866
	Grieskirchen: founded 1912

Order of the Brothers of Mercy

Convent:
Foundation:	1539 by Juan Ciudad in Granada Lucena-Gassee
Foundation in Austria:	1614
Hospital:
Foundation:	1757 in Linz

Order of the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross

Convent:
Foundation:	1852 by Father Theodosius Florentini
Foundation in Austria:	1860 in Linz
Hospitals:	Sierning: built by the brothers Landerl in 1874, donated to the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross in 1908
	Wels: founded 1903