Sculpture of Blessed Mary MacKillop

(Photo: Annette Arnold)

From Catholic Weekly

The Archbishop of Sydney George Cardinal Pell has unveiled and blessed a sculpture of Blessed Mary MacKillop at the Australian Catholic University’s North Sydney (MacKillop) campus.

ACU National vice chancellor Professor Greg Craven commissioned the sculpture by artist Linda Klarfeld to celebrate the university’s history and ongoing affiliation with Australia’s first saint.

“It is a beautiful work and I am sure it will provide a wonderful symbol to our university community, visitors to the campus and the local community,” Prof Craven said.

Ms Klarfeld, whose sculptures are highly regarded and sought after by collectors, described Mary MacKillop as “an incredible woman” who “dared to believe in her dream”.

“That’s why I feel quite a strong connection with her,” Ms Klarfeld said. “In fact, when I was approached to make this statue, I was extremely grateful but I wasn’t surprised. I feel I was destined to make it.”

Mary MacKillop was a woman of absolute faith, commitment and dedication who devoted herself to the quest for human dignity and compassionate care for those in need.

She founded the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph in South Australia in 1866 and moved to a cottage in Mount St, North Sydney, in the 1880s.

In 1913, the Sisters established a training school at North Sydney for the teacher training of the Sisters of St Joseph. In 1958, lay students were admitted to the college which in 1971 became the Catholic Teachers’ College. In 1982, it became part of the Catholic College of Education.

It was at this stage that the name MacKillop was given to the campus to identify it as a discrete part of the college and to recognise the ongoing support of the Sisters of St Joseph.

At the end of 1990, the Catholic College of Education Sydney formally handed over responsibility for the college and its operations, which now rests with ACU National.