Catholic sister, educator

MacKillop was educated in private schools and by her father, who had trained for the priesthood in Rome. Her family was not well off, so she worked from an early age to supplement her parents' income; her jobs included working as a governess in Penola, South Australia, and at the Catholic Denominational School at Portland, Victoria. Through these positions Mackillop met Father Julian Tenison Woods, the parish priest of Penola and in 1866 Mackillop returned to Penola and assisted Woods in the establishment of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. MacKillop was the first member of the order and its Superior. The order's purpose was to provide Catholic education to the poor. MacKillop moved to Adelaide in 1867 and the order's first school in the colony's capital was opened in July that year. At the end of the year, the order already had 10 Sisters and by December 1869 there were 72 Sisters and 21 schools in South Australia. An orphanage and a female refuge were also under the order's care and they were involved with a number of social welfare activities.

Meanwhile, Woods was made secretary to the Bishop, Laurence Shiel, and Director of Catholic Education. As Director of Education he became unpopular with many of the clergy when he closed several schools because he believed the teaching to be poor or because they were uneconomical. Financial support from the government was only received by schools that adhered to the conditions laid down by legislation, including the daily reading of the King James Bible. Some in the clergy felt that government money should be sought despite the conditions, but Woods did not. In 1871 Shiel attempted to appease the priests who were critical of Woods and the Sisters of St Joseph by suggesting that not all the Sisters could teach to an appropriate standard and that the order should come under the direct control of the Bishop, dissolving the influence of Woods and Mackillop. When MacKillop protested she was excommunicated for disobedience. A few months later the excommunication was lifted and in 1873 MacKillop travelled to Rome to receive Papal assent to the structure and way of life of the Sisters of St Joseph. Changes were made to the rule of life of the Sisters and this caused a rift between MacKillop and Woods who believed she should have fought more for the rule of life to remain as originally laid down by him.

Mackillop traveled throughout Europe observing schools and teaching methods, returning to Adelaide in 1875. She was voted Superior-General of the order in March that year. In 1883 she moved the headquarters of the order to Sydney. Today, there are around 1,000 Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Peru.

1866: Established the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart at Penola with Father Julian Tenison Woods

1873: Received Papal approval for the order of the Sisters of St Joseph

March 1875: Elected Superior-General of the Sisters of St Joseph

1972: Nominated as a candidate for beatification and canonisation; formally introduced on 1 February 1973

19 January 1995: Mary MacKillop beatified as Blessed Mary of the Cross by Pope John Paul II

19 December 2009: Pope Benedict XVI approved McKillop's second miracle paving the way for canonisation

When canonised, Mary MacKillop will be Australia's first saint.

• Themes: Religion in South Australia: Women

Gardiner, Paul. Mary MacKillop: An extraordinary Australian, Newtown, N.S.W. : E.J. Dwyer/David Ell Press, 1993

MacKillop, Mary. Mary & Flora : correspondence between Mary MacKillop and her mother, Flora McDonald MacKillop, North Sydney : Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, 2004

Modystack, William. Blessed Mary MacKillop: A woman before her time, Sydney : Lansdowne, 1995

Thorpe, Osmund. Mary MacKillop, Mortdale, N.S.W. : Principal Press, 1980

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online: Search for Mary MacKillop

Flinders Ranges Research: Blessed Mary MacKillop

Sisters of St. Joseph