Papal Approbation for Whanganui Foundation
In 1928, Congregational Leader of the Whanganui Sisters of Saint Joseph, Sr Lucy Donovan with Sr Xavier Malone, attended the Eucharistic Congress in Sydney. The Apostolic Delegate urged them to consider unity with the Australian Diocesan Congregations. Sr Aquin of Lochinvar in 1934, proposed union between the five Congregations of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, […]
A Māori Way of looking at the world
To commemorate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (9 August), Sr Makareta Tawaroa reports from Whanganui Aotearoa New Zealand. I live in my marae (village) among my own whanau (family). I am just another member of our whanau. This is where I am most at home. We are part of the land, […]
Tokaanu and Waihi, Aotearoa New Zealand
In 1902 when the Society of Saint Joseph priests (Mill Hill missionaries) [1] were working among the Māori people on the southern shores of Lake Taupo, they realised that a Catholic School was a necessity. They approached Mother Mary MacKillop for Sisters of Saint Joseph to staff the school. At the beginning of September 1903 […]
Indigenous People Offer Us A Deeper, More Inclusive World
“Think I might be a litte bit in love with Ruby Tui. Bringing te reo to the BBC. Best Olympic interview yet!” Black Fern Ruby Tui’s interview about their win in the women’s rugby sevens Olympic semi-final inspired this Facebook comment from a friend in England. The Black Ferns are predominantly Māori women and […]
Waitangi Day
The Waitangi Day Act 1960 declared 6 February to be Waitangi Day Waitangi Day is a national holiday of thanksgiving in commemoration of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty is regarded by some Māori as ‘He Taonga Tapu’, a sacred covenant, a bond with spiritual connotations between peoples, involving obligations on both […]
First Josephites in Temuka
It was an unlikely Josephite trio who set out in 1883 from Adelaide to Temuka in New Zealand to begin a new foundation in New Zealand. At the time, Mary MacKillop was virtually exiled to Sydney by Adelaide’s Bishop Reynolds over a conflict around the governing of the Institute and the Bishop had selected the […]
Reflection on Mary MacKillop
Sister Margaret Mary Sexton reflects on the humility and graciousness of Mother Mary MacKillop from Grey Lynn Aotearoa New Zealand in 1925. Mother Mary had sufficiently staffed the school at Port Charmers so she returned to Arrowtown as ‘Little Sister’ and as both sisters were engaged in the school, the ‘Little Sister’ willingly and cheerfully […]