Sr Monica Cavanagh, the Congregational Leader, is pleased to announce that the Members of the General Chapter held at the Mary MacKillop Spirituality Centre Baulkham Hills have elected a new Congregational Leadership Team to take forward the vision and directions of the Congregation for the next five years. Sister Josephine Dubiel was elected as the Congregational Leader with Sisters Brigette Sipa, Mary Ellen O’Donoghue, Catherine Mead, and Susan Connelly, as the other members of the Congregational Leadership Team.
Members of the Chapter considered the available skills and experience as well as the current needs of the Congregation as together they discerned the leadership to best progress the Congregation’s future directions.
The Direction statement ‘Let the Yeast Rise’ (Luke 13:21) created during the Chapter process is grounded in the Sisters’ lives in God’s mission with an emphasis on a prophetic stance for inclusion. The Chapter Members recognised that in the context of a world where truth and trust are diminished and separation and exclusion prevail, a renewed commitment to contemplative action, enables them to bring about healing and hope wherever they find themselves.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph was founded in Penola, South Australia in 1866 by Saint Mary MacKillop and English priest, Father Julian Tenison Woods with the very first General Chapter held 150 years ago in Kensington, South Australia.
Sisters today minister throughout Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Ireland, Peru and Brazil. The new Leadership Team will officially take up their duties on 1 February 2026.