Kathleen Evans’ miraculous recovery from cancer in 2003 provides the second of two miracles necessary for the canonisation of Mary MacKillop.
Pope Benedict XVI proclaims Mary a canonical saint of the universal church and Australia’s first canonised saint, saying: “She dedicated herself as a young woman to the education of the poor in the difficult and demanding terrain of rural Australia, inspiring other women to join her in the first women’s community of religious sisters of that country. She attended to the needs of each young person entrusted to her, without regard for station or wealth, providing both intellectual and spiritual formation.”