Battles over authority

I was just reading about the first Australian-born saint, Mary Mackillop (1842-1909) - and a fascinating story it is.  In 1867, Mary took vows in the newly formed order of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and moved to the new convent in Adelaide, where they founded a new school at the request of Bishop Laurence Sheil.  Mary herself was involved in writing the rule. The emphasis was on poverty, dependence on divine providence, and faith that God would provide. The sisters were to go wherever they were needed. The rules were approved by the bishop. By the end of 1867, ten other sisters had joined the Josephites. They cared for the needy regardless of religion, race or social status.  But here’s the thing: Mary got involved in disputes with the bishops that reminded me of the troubles that wracked the Discalced shortly after Teresa’s death under the tenure of Nicolas Doria - and it was all about that thorny old problem of authority.  The bishops in Australia felt that the new congregation should be under the control of the local bishop in each diocese, but Mary wanted a congregation that would be centrally controlled so that the local bishop would not have a say in the day to day running or in the appointments of sisters. Differences over this led to Mary herself even being excommunicated by Bishop Sheil for insubordination and disobedience. Five months later, shortly before he died, the bishop admitted that he had been badly advised and lifted the excommunication.  Ironically, the troubles in the Discalced stemmed from resistance to centralised control by many Sisters, who felt it did not accord with the vision of the foundress, who did not favour centralised control of her nuns.  The issue of authority is indeed a perennially troublesome one.

(With acknowledgements to the Catholic Ireland website)

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Marie, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Sue B, Theresa K, Fr Jon

Siena, Elara – sick children

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David OCDS - housebound

Sophia – blind infant

Joy Smith OCDS – seriously ill

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)