Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart

The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites or Brown Joeys, is a Catholic religious institute founded by Saint Mary MacKillop (1842–1909). Members of the congregation use the postnominal initials RSJ (Religious Sisters of St Joseph).

The order was founded in Penola, South Australia, in 1866 by Saint Mary MacKillop and the Rev. Julian Tenison Woods.

The centre of the congregation is at Mary MacKillop Place, Mount Street, North Sydney, New South Wales, where Saint Mary MacKillop's tomb is enshrined in the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel.

At present there are around 900 sisters living and working throughout Australia (in all states except Tasmania) and New Zealand, as well as in Ireland and Peru. the current congregational leader is Sr Monica Cavanagh, who is supported by five other sisters who constitute the congregational leadership team.

Besides the main centre at North Sydney, the Josephites, who were named after Saint Joseph, have "Mary MacKillop Centres" at Penola, South Australia; the Adelaide suburb of Kensington, South Australia; East Melbourne, Victoria; Annerley, Queensland; and South Perth, Western Australia. The Australian-New Zealand Federation of the Sisters of St Joseph includes congregations in Perthville and Lochinvar in New South Wales.

History

1866: founding

thumb|upright|[[Saint Mary MacKillop]]

Fr Julian Tenison Woods had been very concerned about the lack of education, particularly Catholic education, in South Australia. In 1866, he invited MacKillop and her sisters Annie and Lexie to come to Penola and open a Catholic school. and became the founder, along with MacKillop, of a school they opened in a stable there. After renovations by their brother, the MacKillops started teaching more than 50 children. At this time MacKillop made a declaration of her dedication to God and began wearing black.

In 1867 MacKillop became the first member and superior general (SG) of the newly formed religious congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, Dedicated to the "Catholic education of poor children,"

In December 1869, MacKillop and several other sisters travelled to Brisbane to establish the congregation in Queensland. and assured MacKillop that the congregation and their Rule of Life would receive final approval after a trial period. The congregation became divided, with Wood's followers becoming known as the "Black Josephites", for their black habits, while MacKillop's followers donned brown habits, and were known as the "Brown Josephites". Before Woods' death on 7 October 1889, he and MacKillop were personally reconciled, but he did not renew his involvement with the congregation.

Notwithstanding all the trouble, the institute expanded. By 1877 it operated more than 40 schools in and around Adelaide, with many others in Queensland and New South Wales. With the help from Benson, Barr Smith, the Baker family, Emanuel Solomon, and other non-Catholics, the Josephites, with MacKillop as their superior general, were able to continue the religious and other good works, including visiting prisoners in jail.

1883: Sister Bernard becomes SG

Sydney's Archbishop Roger Vaughan died in 1883 and was succeeded by Patrick Francis Moran. Although he had a somewhat positive outlook toward the Josephites, he removed MacKillop as superior general and replaced her with Sister Bernard Walsh. In 1889 it was also established in the Australian state of Victoria.

During all these years MacKillop assisted Mother Bernard with the management of the Sisters of St Joseph. She wrote letters of support, advice, and encouragement or just to keep in touch. By 1896, MacKillop was back in South Australia visiting fellow sisters in Port Augusta, Burra, Pekina, Kapunda, Jamestown, and Gladstone. That same year she travelled again to New Zealand, spending several months in Port Chalmers and Arrowtown in Otago. During her time in New Zealand the Sisters of St Joseph established a school in the South Island. In 1897, Bishop Maher of Port Augusta arranged for the Sisters of St Joseph to take charge of the St Anacletus Catholic Day School in Petersburg (now Peterborough).

MacKillop founded a convent and base for the Sisters of St Joseph in Petersborough on 16 January 1897. "On January 16th, 1897, the founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, Mother Mary of the Cross, arrived in Peterborough to take over the school. She was accompanied by Sister Benizi (who was placed in charge of the school), Sister M. Joseph, Sister Clotilde, and Sister Aloysius Joseph. They were met at the station by Rev. Father Norton who took them to the newly blessed convent, purchased for them on Railway Terrace." The property at 40 Railway Terrace is identified as the convent by a plaque placed by the Diocese of Peterborough. The vault was a gift of Joanna Barr Smith, a lifelong friend and admiring Presbyterian.

20th century

The wide network of schools and community aid organisations established by the sisters continued to expand throughout Australasia and elsewhere during the 20th century. While vocations within Australia suffered along with other religious institutes in the latter 20th century, its work continued and global recognition came with the canonisation of Mary MacKillop in 2010.

St Aidan's Catholic Primary School in Rooty Hill in Western Sydney was opened in 1907 and run by the Sisters of St Joseph. The Sisters would travel to the school from neighbouring suburb of St Mary's until a horse and sulky was purchased for their travel.

The number of sisters teaching in schools and vocations in general have declined in Australia; however, the congregation has incorporated works meeting the needs of today, including:

Mary MacKillop Today – life-changing projects in Australia and community development projects in Timor Leste, Peru, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. It includes a fair trade company, ethica in Australia.
Good Grief – education programs and seminars for change, loss, and grief. Programs include Seasons for Growth, Stormbirds to assist children and young people after a natural disaster, and Seasons for Healing, a culturally appropriate program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults.
St Anthony's Family Care – caring for families and children
MacKillop Community Rural Services – serving people in rural New South Wales

The work of the Sisters continues among the thousands of lay people who lead and serve in the ministries and direct the focus through being directors of the boards of the incorporated community works. One organisation which has emerged among lay people is Josephite Community Aid. It was formed in 1986 to involve young lay people in community work with refugees and others, along with other volunteer programs. Mary MacKillop Centres were established as focal points for pilgrimage, learning, and spirituality.

By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the Josephites reported around 850 sisters involved in ministering throughout Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Peru, East Timor, Scotland, and Brazil. The sisters maintained an interest in working in education, aged care, ministry in rural areas, work with indigenous Australians, refugees, families, the homeless, and general pastoral and parish ministries. The South Australian Province Reconciliation Circle, comprising a group of Josephite and Carmelite women together with Aboriginal mentors, began meeting regularly in 2003 to work for justice and reconciliation in Indigenous affairs. In 2006 the Conference of Josephite Leaders (Central and Federation Congregations) established the Josephite Justice Office to conduct advocacy in the community.

Between 2012 and 2014 the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Tasmania, Goulburn, Whanganui (Sisters of St Joseph of Nazareth), and the Perthville Congregation have all merged as with the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

Canonisation of Mary MacKillop

In 1925, the congregational leader of the Sisters of St Joseph, Mother Laurence, began the process to have MacKillop declared a saint and Archbishop Michael Kelly of Sydney established a tribunal to carry the process forward. After further investigations, MacKillop's "heroic virtue" was declared in 1992. Her canonisation was announced on 19 February 2010 and took place on 17 October 2010. An estimated 8,000 Australians were present in Vatican City to witness the ceremony.

Notable members

Irene McCormack

Irene McCormack (21 August 1938 – 21 May 1991) was an Australian member of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart who worked as a missionary in Peru. She was executed there in 1991 by members of Sendero Luminoso ("Shining Path"), a Maoist rebel guerrilla organisation.

In October 2010, Australian media reported McCormack's possible recognised sainthood after Mary MacKillop's canonisation. The Daily Telegraph reported that senior Peruvian and Australian Catholic clergy planned on preparing a submission to the Vatican for McCormack's cause after Mary MacKillop's canonisation.

The Congregational Leader of the Sisters of St Joseph, Sister Ann Derwin, said that people in Huasahuasi, who already regarded McCormack as a saint, demanded this, since people judged to have been martyrs do not require evidence of miracles performed through their intercession.

Gwendoline Dooley (1935–2015) – Tasmanian educator and member of the Sisters of St Joseph who taught in Catholic schools throughout Tasmania and was the last Josephite sister to teach at Sacred Heart Catholic School, Geeveston.

Schools

Schools founded by the Josephites include:

Penola Catholic College The Sisters of St Joseph ministered to the local community and lived on this site from 1901 until the late 1980’s. The College name, Penola Catholic College, was chosen because of the strong link of the Senior campus with Saint Mary MacKillop and the Sisters of St Joseph who established
Mount Carmel College, Rosewater, Adelaide; which had its core school opened by Mary of The Cross and Father Tennyson Woods in 1868 at Dale Street, Port Adelaide and Pennington (Alberton).
St Joseph's School, Russell Street, in the south-western corner of Adelaide city centre, was founded when the sisters took over the school known as St Romuald's a year after its establishment in 1876. It closed in 1965 and the building (originally stables) was demolished in the late 1990s. later owner of the Dan Clifford Cinema Circuit.
Albert Augustine Edwards (1888–1963), known as Bert, rumoured to be the illegitimate son of Charles Cameron Kingston, future Premier of South Australia, and later himself a politician in the South Australian Parliament.

Mary MacKillop College, a girls' secondary school in Kensington

St Benedict's College, Newton, Auckland founded 1884.

References

External links

Mary MacKillop Place official website
Mary MacKillop Penola Centre official website
Mary McKillop Today