The Catholic Church would be lost without women. Despite men holding most of the important positions, the Church has always absolutely relied on women to do most of the heavy lifting. This has always been the case – much like the wider society. Last week we celebrated the feast day of Mary Mackillop, our first Australian Saint. She was born in Melbourne in 1840 and began work as a teacher in rural South Australia. She loved teaching and saw what an impact it could have. She expanded her teaching and other women joined her to establish the Sisters of St Joseph. Mary MacKillop wanted to make a positive change for kids in the bush through education. St Joseph’s here in Bundaberg was started by the Sisters of St Joseph and Mary Mackillop visited St Joey’s. 

Mary ran into problems with men in the Church fairly early. Bundaberg was in the Brisbane Diocese at the time and Bishop Quinn wanted to control the ownership and management of Mary MacKillop’s schools – so the sisters were banished from Queensland. Mary wouldn’t back down. Later, she also clashed with Bishop Sheil in Adelaide who excommunicated her from the Church. Sheil recanted this position on his deathbed and Mary was exonerated. Mary MacKillop is an Australian hero. She brought life changing education to kids in the bush all around Australia. She was a strong and determined woman in a time and culture when women had very little voice or advocacy. She was prepared to speak the truth to power and to wear the consequences for that. Her story is as relevant today as it was in the 1800s in Australia.