The Canossian Daughters of Charity are always ready to “go where God sends us”, Australian delegation leader Sr Mel Dwyer said in The Catholic Leader.

The Australian delegation celebrated its 75th anniversary Mass at the order’s Canossa Chapel at Oxley on Saturday, July 13.

Canossian Daughters of Charity came from across Australia to Brisbane for the anniversary celebrations. PHOTO: Catholic Leader.

Sr Mel said it was a beautiful celebration and a “wonderful gathering of our sisters from all around Australia”.

Brisbane auxiliary Bishop Tim Norton celebrated the Mass with priests concelebrating from the Passionist Community and the Indonesian community as well as the presence of Canossian vicar general Sr Josemary Keelath who travelled from Rome.

The Canossian Sisters were invited to Brisbane by Church leadership in 1949 to minister to the influx of Italian migrants who came to Australia after the Second World War.

“We came with that original inspirational mandate to come and serve on a journey with the Italian migrants,” Sr Mel said.

“Now, ministry over the past 75 years has diversified to such an extent that we’ve got sisters from over 12 different countries serving as missionaries here.”

Contact with migrant and multicultural communities remained core to the Canossian ministry in Australia but it had also expanded into many other areas like education, healthcare, in parishes in many different ways, she said.

“Simply being with the people has really been a blessing for us,” Sr Mel said.

Being dynamic and responsive to where “the Spirit was leading us” remained key to the order’s mission over time.

Sr Mel said an obvious example of that was opening their newest community in 2021 on the Tiwi Island.

“It was a new initiative in responding to an emerging poverty of walking with the people there,” she said.

She said the sisters were always ready to “go where God sends us” and be “a presence to the people”.

There are now 28 Canossian sisters across five communities in Australia and the order is still seeing local vocations with one candidate in initial formation at the moment.

Sr Mel saw religious life playing an important role as the Church looked to synodality as a way for mission.

She said religious life had “lived synodality for forever”.

“I think that now the Church is starting to advocate for this critical approach, religious life has a beautiful contribution to make to that space,” she said.

This article by Joe Higgins was published in The Catholic Leader.