Church must learn from 'unjust' treatment of Mary MacKillop: Cardinal George Pell

Peter Wilson, Rome From:The Australian October 15, 2010 9:29AM

THE canonisation of Mary MacKillop should cause the Catholic Church's hierarchy to reflect on the fact the clergy can act in unjust and even malicious ways, Cardinal George Pell says. Amid the widespread celebration over the naming of Australia's first saint there was good reason to remember that the Melbourne-born nun was occasionally treated dreadfully unfairly by members of the Catholic clergy, the Archbishop of Sydney said at the Vatican. Speaking in St Peter's Square as 8000 Australians gathered in Rome to mark Sunday's formal recognition of Mother MacKillop as a saint, Cardinal Pell said the event was an occasion of great joy but there were also uncomfortable lessons to be taken from MacKillop's life. The obstacles that some 19th Century priests and bishops placed in her way as she tried to educate the poor and build her order of nuns, the Sisters of St Joseph, carried an important message for the Catholic hierarchy even in the 21st Century. Asked by The Australian whether the harsh treatment of Mary MacKillop by the clergy should be considered a problem of the past Cardinal Pell said no, no, it is always possible that we are going to do the wrong thing. I think it is true that the 19th Century Australian Catholic bishops by our standards were a boisterous lot but having said that we have got to try very carefully not to be unjust, he said. Not to be unjust to anyone but perhaps especially to those who are doing the best work. In 1871 Adelaide Bishop Laurence Sheil declared that MacKillop was excommunicated from the Church for supposed insubordination after she tried to defend the independence and future of her congregation. Although that decision was eventually revoked she was demoted 14 years later on spurious grounds. Some of it was malicious, on the part of a few priests, I think there is no doubt about that, Cardinal Pell said when asked by The Australian about MacKillop's problems with senior Church members. The bishop who excommunicated her was old and sick, another bishop said he (Sheil) was arrogant and foolish rather than malicious and that is probably true. You have got to remember though that she came to Rome (in 1873) for protection and guidance and help and she received it. And she was remarkable in her writings in the way that she tried to put the best possible perspective on the way she was being treated. She wasn't unrealistic though. With the people who were malicious she very clearly recognised that and acknowledged that - with other people who were foolish and arrogant and old she also acknowledged that. Cardinal Pell said that he would not use the word rebellious to describe MacKillop, insisting that while she was strong-minded she still respected authority and the Church's laws.

She was very clear on what she wanted and if she thought it was important she wasn't going to be swayed by anybody on those important points. She was a very loyal person, a very forgiving person and a very strong person, he said. Cardinal Pell said that when the Pope formally recognised her as Australia's first saint it would be an occasion of great encouragement for the Church in Australia. Her message is a very good one, especially for people who are battling a bit, who feel they have been treated unjustly, or who are sick, he said, noting that MacKillop was ill for much of her life and was partially paralysed after suffering a stroke at the age of 60. She herself said she could not have coped with her difficulties without her faith and I think in our society people need purpose and direction, and faith gives that. If people don't know whether they are upside down and floundering it is very, very difficult to make a go of it. The recognition of an Australian saint would be one of the highlights of my time as a Cardinal and as an archbishop, Cardinal Pell said. It is a very signficant event for the Catholic Church in Australia. It is a sign of maturity, it is a recognition that she was locally born, that we have produced someone who was worthy of universal attention. It is going to be a wonderful few days we have got 8000 Australians here (which) is probably the biggest peacetime contingent of Australians ever to travel overseas together. Australians and Catholics know how to enjoy themselves so as well as praying and rejoicing and sightseeing I am sure a lot of people will have a lovely time, It will be a very happy time. MacKillop will be canonised along with five other former nuns, priests and brothers in a ceremony beginning at 10 am Sunday local time in Rome, or 7 pm in Sydney.