Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak in respect of the canonisation of the Blessed Mary MacKillop, who on Sunday, 17 October—an occasion that should be a source of celebration, inspiration and national pride for Australians, regardless of their religious belief—was made a saint. The Blessed Mary MacKillop was born in Fitzroy in Melbourne in 1842. She was the eldest of six children, born to Scottish immigrants, Alexander MacKillop and Flora MacDonald. In 1861 she moved to Penola in South Australia to work as a governess for her uncle. There she met Father Julian Tenison Woods. In 1866 she returned to Penola and, with Father Woods, established Australia’s first free Catholic school. The same year she adopted the religious name Sister Mary of the Cross and co-founded the religious order of the Sisters of St Joseph and took a vow of poverty.

In 1871, after disagreements with Bishop Sheil, she was excommunicated from the church, only to be accepted back some five months later. When she died in 1909 there were 117 schools around Australia—with 12,409 pupils—founded by the Sisters of St Joseph. It is an extraordinary legacy to her work that many of those schools are still open today.

In 1925 the Sisters of St Joseph began the process to have Sister Mary declared a saint. Forty-eight years later, in 1973, the initial investigations into her sainthood closed. Following other pronouncements and further investigations, Sister Mary was beatified by Pope John Paul II. In 2009 the Vatican approved the second miracle, paving the way for her sainthood. On 17 October, after an 85-year process, sainthood was finally bestowed on the Blessed Mary MacKillop and five others by Pope Benedict XVI. She became Australia’s first ever saint. I note that she was the first Australian saint and that our first saint was a woman. Of the six people who were made saints on 17 October, two of them were males, but Australia’s first saint was a woman. Recognition in the form of sainthood is of significance to Christians and especially so to Catholics. I spoke briefly to Adelaide’s Archbishop, Philip Wilson, the day before he left for the Vatican. I know that the occasion was to be a highlight in his own life and he was looking very much forward to it.

Around Australia special masses and celebrations have been held by the Catholic community in the lead-up to the canonisation and were held also on the day. The story of the life of the Blessed Mary MacKillop should be an inspiration to all Australians. Through her courage, tenacity and determination, and driven by her compassion and sense of justice, she touched the lives of so many people and gave hope to the poor and the desperate. In her 67 years, the Blessed Mary MacKillop travelled to many parts of Australia and lived in many towns. Not surprisingly, many Australian communities today feel a special connection with her and with her legacy—none more so than the community of Penola, where her work began.

Her legacy, however, extends beyond Australia. The work of the Sisters of St Joseph stretches across the globe. Today there are about 860 sisters of St Joseph working in many roles and many places around the world. They are all doing social work and helping people in need in poor countries, in aged-care centres, in detention centres, in Indigenous communities and wherever there is need. I recall, not so long ago, I was approached by some sisters of St Joseph, who had been working and are still working among Indigenous communities in Australia, to discuss the plight of the communities that they were working with.

It is indeed an incredible legacy—a legacy that will continue to grow through the ongoing work of the Sisters of St Joseph in schools here as well as in their work around the world. It is a legacy that is made even more extraordinary because, for much of her adult life, the health of the blessed Mary MacKillop was not good. She in fact travelled frequently to New Zealand to take hot baths to seek some relief from what was thought to be a form of arthritis. Yet she persisted and persevered with her work throughout her whole life. In South Australia, the late Adelaide columnist, Max Harris, became a champion for the cause of her being made saint. He coined the phrase ‘A saint for all Australians’. The blessed Mary MacKillop is indeed a saint for all Australians. I conclude with this quote from her:

Now more than ever we should be humble, patient, charitable and forgiving. If we cannot excuse everything we can at least excuse the intention.

I believe that that quote says much about the character of the blessed Mary MacKillop, who is today a saint.

See this speech in context