Will Mary MacKillop be Australia's first saint?
Australia is set to get its first saint next year after a woman claimed she was cured of lung cancer by praying to nun Mary MacKillop.
Mary MacKillop was born in Melbourne of Scottish parents who had emigrated to Australia in search of a better life. She spent her life educating the poor and taking education to the harsh outback. Her first school was established in an abandoned stable. By the tender age of 24 she founded her own order of nuns and became known as “the Australian people’s saint”.
She also crossed the class boundaries by taking under her wing former female prisoners and prostitutes. She had a clear belief in equality and was determined that everyone should have the chance to be educated.
However she was excommunicated by the catholic church in 1871 for alleged insubordination before being welcomed back into the church just four months later.
By her death at the age of 67 she had led 750 nuns, established 117 schools and had opened countless orphanages and refuges for the poor and needy.. Deputy Prime Minster Julia Gillard said of her: “In a time when poverty was common and educational opportunities for young Australians very limited, Mary MacKillop worked to improve the lives of the marginalised, the homeless and the destitute throughout her life.”
Mary MacKillop was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995 after having a miracle attributed to her when a woman claimed she was healed of terminal leukaemia after praying to the nun.
Pope Benedict XVI made a special detour to visit the memorial chapel of Mary MacKillop when he visited Australia in 2008 for the youth celebrations and said at the time that he had a great love of her. He was only the third Pope to pray at her tomb.
Her supporters are now hoping for a final decision from the Vatican but hope is high that she will be canonised in Rome next year, with Julia Gillard describing it as a; “deeply significant announcement for the five million Australians of Catholic faith and for all Australians whether of Catholic faith or not.”
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