Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop & the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred HeartPrint Page

The Mary MacKillop Centre commemorates the work of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop and the Sisters of St Joseph. The Centre is located on the historical site of the first Mother House of the Sisters of St Joseph, established by Mary MacKillop in 1872.

While acting as a governess to her uncle's children at Penola, Mary Mackillop met Father Julian Tenison Woods who, with a parish of 56,000 square kilometres, needed help in the religious education of children in the outback. At the time Mary's family depended on her income so she was not free to follow her dream. However, in 1866, greatly inspired and encouraged by Father Woods, Mary opened the first Saint Joseph's School in a disused stable in Penola.

Young women came to join Mary, and so the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph was begun. In 1867, Mary was asked by Bishop Shiel to come to Adelaide to start a school. From there, the Sisters spread, in groups to small outback settlements and large cities around Australia, New Zealand, and now in Peru, Brazil and refugee camps of Uganda and Thailand. Mary and these early Sisters, together with other Religious Orders and Lay Teachers of the time, had a profound influence on the forming of Catholic Education as we have come to know and experience it today.

Mary MacKillop was Canonised on October 17, 2010 at St Peter's Basilica, Rome. Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed Mary's sainthood during the Canonisation Mass.

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