SA Sisters in pivotal role
National
Three Josephite Sisters from South Australia, Josephine Dubiel, Brigette Sipa and Catherine Mead, have been elected to the congregational leadership team.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart was founded in Penola in 1866 by St Mary MacKillop and English priest Fr Julian Tenison Woods with the very first General Chapter held 150 years ago in Kensington, SA.
Sr Monica Cavanagh, Congregational leader of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, announced the new leadership team at the General Chapter held at the Mary MacKillop Spirituality Centre, Baulkham Hills.
Appointed to take forward the vision and directions of the congregation for the next five years, the leadership team comprises, Sr Mary Ellen O’Donoghue and Sr Susan Connell as well as the three South Australians, with Sr Josephine elected Congregational leader.
Members of the Chapter considered the available skills and experience as well as the current needs and hopes of the congregation.
The direction statement ‘Let the Yeast Rise’ (Luke 13:21) created during the Chapter process was grounded in the Sisters’ lives in God’s mission with an emphasis on a prophetic stance for inclusion.
The Chapter Members recognised that in the context of a world where truth and trust are diminished and separation and exclusion prevail, a renewed commitment to contemplative action enables them to bring about healing and hope wherever they find themselves.
Sisters today minister throughout Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Ireland, Peru and Brazil. The new Leadership Team will officially take up their duties on 1 February 2026.
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