Quick history lesson covers 180 years of education
Schools
One hundred and eighty years of Catholic education in South Australia was impressively covered in a little under five hours at a Stories of Hope gathering in Plympton in mid May.
Several religious orders were represented among the 95 attendees, which included many school children who listened to five guest speakers explain how and why their Order was established in SA in the 19th century.
Held at The Highway, the event was part of Catholic Education Week celebrations and was in part inspired by the research into religious education in the State undertaken by Vicar for Religious, Sr Elizabeth Morris rsj.
Sister Sheila McCreanor was the first to address the gathering, speaking in detail and with passion about the Sisters of Saint Joseph. With a diverse background including work in Peru and a PhD on St Mary MacKillop and the print media, her presentation was full of interest.
Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ followed with the theme that schooling is not just about instruction but formation. He talked about the challenges of educating refugee children, not just in Australia (which has five refugee schools, he said) but in Africa where there are 93,000 refugee children in Chad alone, and schooling is difficult.
The history of the Cabra Dominicans was covered by Sister Maureen O’Connell who retold the story of seven Sisters leaving Ireland in 1868 and experiencing extreme hardships as they founded the Dominican Order in Adelaide. Today there are 19 Cabra Dominican Sisters in Adelaide and nine Dominican Sisters in North Adelaide.
Christian Brother John Ahern furthered the theme, explaining the need to establish religious orders is no longer alive in Australia, but is more pertinent in places such as India and Africa.
The final speaker, Mercy Sister Mary-Anne Duigan reflected on Operation Babylift, the last gasp evacuation of children from Saigon at the end of the Vietnamese war 50 years ago, and the part played by the Order.
The day concluded with a panel comprising Jill Gowdie (director of Catholic Identity & Mission, CESA), John Neate (chair of SACCS), Sr Shirley Macklin OP (Congregational leader of the North Adelaide Dominicans), Sr Catherine Mead (Dr of Education, Sisters of St Joseph), Br Bryan Leak (Marists) and Mark Corrigan (acting director School Quality & Performance, CESA).
The panel was asked about the influence the various Orders had upon them and the challenges of keeping the flame alive today.
Courage and community were features of this discussion, along with the need to continually ask ‘what matters most?’; and that ‘we live our life forward and not backward’.
Finally, a note on the catering, a first class offering of pizza and burgers and chips perhaps geared towards the children but very much embraced by all adults in situ. The left over food was taken by St Mary’s College students to Unity House, a boarding house on South Terrace. It was very much in keeping with the spirit of the day and indeed the thinking behind the founding of education and helping others that began 180 years ago in South Australia.
Sister Liz was impressed.
“It has been an amazing day, I am going home tonight with my heart full,” she said.
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