Former Waikato hospital chaplain Sr Carmel dies

A religious who worked as a chaplain at Waikato Hospital for nearly four decades died last month in Hamilton. 

Sr Mary Carmel Horan, RNDM, QSM, died on June 19 at Hilda Ross Retirement Village in Hamilton East. She was 84. 

Sr Carmel’s work was recognised by Pope Francis in 2013 with a Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal. 

That year, she told NZ Catholic that she loved her work.  

Asked what the best thing about it was, she replied: “The privilege of serving God through the hospital. Meeting people — they are so lovely and we are working with such lovely staff.” 

Sr Carmel was a well-recognised figure around the wards. Patients wanting to talk to her would often call out “sister” from their beds. 

“We say we are there for anyone and everyone,” Sr Carmel told NZ Catholic. 

Hospital chaplaincy brings the full range of joys and sorrows, she said. You experience them all, often within a few hours, because it is such a big hospital, she said. 

Down the years, it has not been uncommon for patients who first met Sr Carmel a long time ago, to ask for her again. 

In 1995, she received a Queen’s Service Medal for services to the community.  

After Sr Carmel’s death, vigil prayer was held at St Mary’s Chapel in Hamilton East on June 21. Requiem Mass was celebrated in the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Hamilton on June 22.