Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop & Father WoodsPrint Page

The Interpretive Centre and the Schoolhouse commemorate the lives of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods with displays, photographs, artefacts and historical reflections.

The Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre opened in 1998 and is housed in an architecturally designed facility. It is one of many museums and displays created worldwide to convey the life and achievements of Mary MacKillop. A committee of local volunteers donates their time to open this display to the public.

Within the centre are two main sections, one focussing on the life of Mary MacKillop and the other on Father Julian Tenison Woods, a priest that was also a major figure in Penola’s development. The display explores the beginnings of the Catholic education system and the foundation of a new religious institute formed by Woods and MacKillop in the late 19th century, called the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. 

Mary MacKillop was the founder and Superior of the Sisters of St Joseph. The Sisters were to live in poverty and dedicate themselves to educating poor children.

MacKillop was excommunicated by Bishop Sheil on 22 September 1871 for alleged insubordination; most of the schools were closed and the Sisterhood almost disbanded. The excommunication was removed on 21 February 1872.

In journeys throughout Australasia she established schools, convents and charitable institutions but came into conflict with those bishops who preferred diocesan control of the Sisterhood. Always regarded as holy, she was put forward in 1972 as a candidate for the honour of beatification and canonization and on 1 February 1973 the Cause was formally introduced.

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