“Out of the Shadows, Into the Light”:Blessed John Henry Newman, Soho “Gay” Masses

Last Sunday I went up to London for one of the regular LGBT – oriented “Soho Masses”. Earlier in the day, Pope Benedict had conducted the beatification service for Cardinal John Henry Newman. Cardinal Newman is now officially Blessed John Henry – and so the liturgy used our Mass was, quite appropriately, the newly minted liturgy for his festal day.

Portrait of Cardinal Newman by John Millais

Mary MacKillon: Aussie Saint and Troublemaker.

Australia is celebrating its first saint: Sister Mary MacKillon, a 19th-century nun who founded a religious order which ran schools and orphanages and clinics, is to be canonized on October 17th.

A Painting of Sr Mary MacKinllop, now in the Vatican museum

From The Independent:

Born in Melbourne to poor Scottish immigrants in 1842, MacKillop opened the first St Joseph’s School in a disused stable in the town of Penola, in South Australia. She died in 1909 and passed the first stage to sainthood in 1995 when she was beatified by Pope John Paul II.

A teacher and social reformer, MacKillop founded a religious order at 24, and by the time of her death led 750 nuns who ran 117 schools, as well as orphanages, clinics and refuges for the needy. The work of her order, the Sisters of St Joseph, now extends to Thailand, Brazil, Peru and Uganda.

In Australia,Prime Minister Kevin Rudd  said

” She was a pioneering woman who dedicated her life to working for the “homeless, the destitute and the marginalised. In a time when many children grew up in poverty and had little chance of gaining access to a decent education, Mary MacKillop changed the course of many young Australians lives“

(Sydney Morning Herald).

What I like about her, is her clear rebellious streak, which for a while got her into serious trouble with the Church authorities.