Mary MacKillop

Mother Mary MacKillop died on 8 August 1909 in the Josephite convent in North Sydney.

In 1925, the Mother Superior of the Sisters of St Joseph, the order Mary MacKillop founded, Mother Laurence, began the process to have MacKillop declared a saint and Michael Kelly, Archbishop of Sydney, established a tribunal to carry the process forward. After several years of hearings, close examination of MacKillop's writings and a 23 year delay, the initial phase of investigations was completed in 1973. After further investigations, MacKillop's 'heroic virtue' was declared in 1992. The process for determining this declaration is internal to the church, and conducted by those in senior positions.

That same year, it was considered that MacKillop's intercession to God had been responsible for the recovery of an apparently dying woman in 1961. The decree on the miracle was read in 1993 and MacKillop was beatified in January 1995 by Pope John Paul II. [Who is also in line for sainthood]

In December 2009, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued papal decree recognising a second miracle, the complete and permanent cure of an Australian woman of lung and secondary brain cancer.

Her forthcoming canonisation was announced in February this year, and is due to occur this month. She will be Australia's first saint.

Events to mark the Canonisation of Mary Mackillop will take place around Australia tomorrow, including a major celebration at her birthplace, 7 Brunswick Street Fitzroy. A morning Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral, will be followed by a parade from Brunswick Street to the Royal Exhibition Building, where a festival of celebrations will take place, including a live telecast from Rome of the Canonisation by the Pope at St. Peter's Basilica. [No vow of poverty there]

In the week leading up to her canonisation, the federal government announced that it is protecting the use of Mackillop's name for commercial purposes. This will be enacted through legislation, and will block companies from calling themselves names that include Mary MacKillop or Saint MacKillop. It may also block other terms such as Our Mary, depending on the circumstances. [or what the lobby groups can achieve, no doubt] Apparently, the only other individual Australian's name with similar protection is cricket legend, Sir Donald Bradman. [sport and religion, hey?]
For the occasion of the beatification, an official commemorative portrait has been commissioned. [Apparently, the official photo is photoshopped to within an inch of it's life]

There is no doubt that she was a good woman who did good work. Her story is an interesting one - ministering to the poor, often in remote locations, travelling the world, excommunication, pedophilia, to mention just a few facts.

However... what can I say? The catholic church needed a good marketing strategy to help it through the 21st Century, to help with it's much tarnished reputation and what better strategy, not unlike Hollywood honouring it's past stars, than to rummage up a few new saints.

I'd be guessing, but I would think that all the catholic outposts in the world, who don't have saints yet, will be in the process of getting them, or will soon have them.

The first miracle attributed to Mary MacKillop happened in 1961, the second some 30 years later. More than fifty years after she had died. So, she has continued to do her good work for the last hundred years since her death? She was such a good woman, even death hasn't stopped her. Amazing.
Of course, there can never be any, actual, physical proof of this.
It's the perfect marketing strategy, something other advertisers and markets of today must be green with envy over. Now, if only they could get their claims raised to the highest level without a single piece of physical evidence they be happy people, let me tell you.

The site for the new Saint Mary of the Cross Chapel is on the Australian Catholic University's vacant land opposite MacKillop's birthplace at the top end of Brunswick Street in Fitzroy.

The gateway to Fitzroy, arguably the gayest suburb in Melbourne, will now be a catholic chapel.

In the process, the catholic church managed to demolish a lovely, deco building which used to be the gateway to Fitzroy.

Funny how religion continues to impose itself on all of us whether we like it or not. I know which building I would rather.