STEPHANIE GARDINER, SYDNEY
August 08, 2009 12:01amMOTHER Mary MacKillop was the daughter of migrants, came from a broken home, struggled financially and fought hard to achieve her ambitions.
Even a century after her death, many parallels can be drawn between the story of Mother Mary, the founder of the Catholic order the Sisters of St Joseph, and modern Australian life.
Sr Maria Casey, who heads the push for her canonisation in Rome, says the centenary of Mother Mary's death today is a time for reflection about her life and legacy.
"I'm a great believer in Mary MacKillop and what she has to offer to Australian people of all creeds. She was a great Australian woman, but also a holy woman," Sr Casey said from Rome.
It is Mother Mary's life that was dedicated to helping the needy that speaks to all Australian people, Sr Casey says.
"She strongly and completely believed in the dignity of everybody.
"No one, black or white, Catholic or non-Catholic, at the time would not be welcomed by her. Rich or poor, the high and the low, people were people to her and she had extraordinary respect for their dignity."
According to data compiled by the Sisters of St Joseph, Mother Mary's parents moved from Scotland to Melbourne in the 1830s, only to be faced with financial difficulties.
"She understands migrants and there was a lot of discrimination in those days," Sr Maria said.
"We now have multicultural Australia, but so many migrants feel unwelcome still. She would understand the isolation that was caused by being a migrant. She has something to say to those people."
As a teenager, Mary was forced to become the breadwinner, working at stationers Sands and Kenny, and later as a governess. Her parents separated when she was older.
In 1866 she set up a school in a stable in Penola and founded the Sisters of St Joseph, affectionately known as the Brown Joeys, spending her life educating and caring for many, including ex-prostitutes and former female prisoners.
Amid tensions with the church, Mother Mary was excommunicated in 1871 for alleged insubordination but reinstated four months later.
She then begged her way to Rome to seek the approval and support of Pope Pius IX to continue her work with the sisters. Many Australians could relate to her yearning for spirituality despite years of struggle with her family, her work and the church, Sr Maria says.
"Especially in the present context, where there's a lot of stress, a lot of crisis . . . (spirituality) is something that a lot of Australians are yearning for," Sr Maria said.
"Judging by the numbers that go to Eastern religions to practise meditation, to learn how to relax and so on, she has something to say to us in this culture."
Almost since Mother Mary's death in 1909, there has been a push to make her Australia's first saint.
Speculation about whether her canonisation will be announced on the centenary of her death is mounting, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's recent visit to Pope Benedict XVI fuelling the hype.
Sr Maria says an announcement today is impossible, as Mother Mary's second miracle is before the Vatican for consideration.
Mother Mary was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995, meaning the Vatican recognised she had performed one miracle, healing an Australian woman of terminal leukaemia in 1961. To be named a saint, her second miracle of healing a woman with inoperable cancer during the mid-1890s must be proved.
While it may be many months before the Vatican makes a decision about Mother Mary's sainthood, the significance of her canonisation would extend beyond the Catholic Church, Sr Maria says. "For Australia, it means that they have a hero or a model for young people and for people looking for inspiration," she said.
"We've had the era of sports people, our film stars, our musicians being heroes and heroines.
"So I think with a new and increasing interest in spirituality rather than established religion, young people are looking for models and she would be a very good model for young people."
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