Introduction
The Sisters of St Joseph were founded with vision and courage to undertake a new experiment; to live as religious had not lived before in the harsh and isolated context of Australia and New Zealand in the 19th century.
In 2008 there are six congregations of Sisters of St Joseph in Australia and New Zealand. This section provides a brief overview of the vision and focus of each of the six congregations and provides links to existing websites.
The two major groupings are the Central Josephites and the Australian New Zealand Federation of the Sisters of St Joseph.
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The Central Josephites, known as the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart are located at North Sydney comprising six provinces, one region and a foundation in Peru. For more information on each of these see: |
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The Australian-New Zealand Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph emerged from the community which gathered around Julian Tenison Woods and Mary MacKillop at Penola in South Australia. From this beginning a foundation was made at Perthville in the NSW Diocese of Bathurst in 1872. Bishop Matthew Quinn of Bathurst changed the character of the Institute from one governed by Central Authority, as upheld by Rome in 1873, to a Diocesan Institute. Foundations were sent from Perthville to:
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In response to the Second Vatican Council the five Congregations, while each retained its autonomy, formed the Australian-New Zealand Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph in 1967.
