Sophie McGrath | |
---|---|
Born | 1932or1933 |
Died | 13 June 2020 (aged 87) |
Nationality | Australian |
Occupations |
|
Academic background | |
Alma mater | |
Thesis | Women Religious in the History of Australia : A Case Study -- the Sisters of Mercy, Parramatta (1987) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | History |
Sub-discipline | Women's History |
Institutions | Australian Catholic University |
Madeleine Sophie McGrath (died 13 June 2020) was an Australian historian and religious Sister of Mercy,who was the Director of the Golding Centre for Women's History,Theology and Spirituality at the Australian Catholic University from 2003 to 2020.
Sophie McGrath was the daughter of Eileen and John McGrath,and had two siblings Marie and Patricia. [1]
McGrath completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney,a Diploma of Education at the University of New England,a Master of Education at the University of Sydney,and a Doctor of Philosophy in history from Macquarie University.
Her doctoral thesis,a centenary history of the Sisters of Mercy,Parramatta, [2] was published by the University of New South Wales press as These Women?:women religious in the history of Australia,the Sisters of Mercy,Parramatta 1888–1988. [3] McGrath also researched and published in the areas of the Christian philosophy of education,the education of Catholic girls,women religious in the history of Australia and feminism and the papacy. [4]
McGrath taught and held leadership positions in several Mercy schools in Sydney and was the school principal at Catherine McAuley in Westmead from 1974 to 1977.The school later named its Sophie McGrath Building in her honour. [5]
Her work as a researcher at the Strathfield Campus of the Australian Catholic University (ACU) commenced in 1982 and she became a Research Fellow in 2000. As a scholar,McGrath was particularly interested in the role and significance of women in the Church. [6] A proposal submitted jointly by McGrath and Rosa MacGinley initially led to the establishment of the Golding Project for Women's History,Theology and Spirituality. In 2003 it was upgraded to the status of a Centre. [4] The Golding Centre for Women's History,Theology and Spirituality was situated within the School of Theology at ACU. McGrath was appointed as the Director of the centre and the founding team included Kim Power,in addition to McGrath and MacGinley,providing team members across multiple ACU campuses in Brisbane,Sydney and Melbourne. [4]
The Golding Centre was named in honour of three Australian Catholic activists,Annie and Belle Golding and their married sister Kate Dwyer. [7] An early major research project of the Golding Centre was to explore 'The Catholic Community and Women's Suffrage in Australia',a project that also included Katharine Massam as a team member. [8] Through the Golding Centre seven doctoral dissertations were successfully supervised. [6] The Centre held an annual colloquium and published a regular newsletter. [9] [10]
McGrath was also a member of the Australian Catholic Historical Society (ACHS) for many years and contributed to the ACHS Journal. [11]
McGrath died on 13 June 2020 at the age of 87. [1] She was planning to retire at the end of 2020. Former Vice-Chancellor and President Professor at ACU Greg Craven AO GCSG paid tribute to McGrath after her death stating that,“Sophie was a pioneering leader in Catholic academia in Australia,particularly in researching the role of women in the history of the Australian Church landscape. Her work in establishing the Golding Centre for Women’s History at ACU in 2000 was a particular achievement for which she will be remembered.” [6]
Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome.
The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute has about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They also started many education and health care facilities around the world.
The Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Holy See. From origins as a suppressed, mainly Irish minority in early colonial times, the church has grown to be the largest Christian denomination in Australia, with a culturally diverse membership of around 5,075,907 people, representing about 20% of the overall population of Australia according to the 2021 ABS Census data.
Irish Australians are an ethnic group of Australian citizens of Irish descent, which include immigrants from and descendants whose ancestry originates from the island of Ireland.
Religion in Australia is diverse. In the 2021 national census, 43.9% of Australians identified with Christianity and 38.9% declared "no religion".
Mother Mary Vincent Whitty, R.S.M., was an Irish religious sister known for her work in the colony of Queensland. She was a leading figure in the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy, both in Ireland and in its expansion into the Australian colonies.
St Mary's College Maryborough is a Catholic co-educational secondary school in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia.
Sister Mary Prudence Allen is an American philosopher who converted to Catholicism and joined the Religious Sisters of Mercy. In 2014 she was appointed to the International Theological Commission for a five-year term by Pope Francis. Her areas of specialization include the history of philosophy, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of woman, existentialism, and personalism. Areas of competence include metaphysics, philosophy of God, epistemology and logic.
Joan Patricia Hendriks (1936-2020), also known as Aunty Joan, is a Ngugi elder of one of the three groups of Quandamooka people in Moreton Island, Queensland, Australia. She is the first Indigenous person appointed to the National Catholic Education Commission, and has brought Indigenous issues to the forefront at the United Nations and International Interfaith Forums.
Rosemary Anne Crumlin RSM OAM is an Australian Sister of Mercy, art historian, educator and exhibition curator with a special interest in art and spirituality. She was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours for service to the visual arts, particularly the promotion and understanding of contemporary and religious art, to education, and to the community.
Mary May Scollen (1887–1967), known by her religious name as Sister Mary Justinian, was an Australian religious who was notable for her nursing and hospital administration. She joined the North Sydney congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, professing final vows in 1907. Trained as a nurse, she served as matron of the Mater Misericordis Hospital in the north Sydney area, for 44 years. She then served as hospital administrator for four years, and concurrently was the superior for her convent. She was appointed M.B.E. in 1958.
Maryanne P. Confoy RSC is an Australian religious Sister of Charity who has also been a teacher and scholar, working primarily in the areas of ministry and spirituality.
Elaine Stuart Lindsay is an Australian academic whose work has focussed on literature and feminist theology. She was instrumental in the development of the Women-Church journal which provided publishing opportunities in feminist theology for Australian women.
Catholic Theological College (CTC) is one of the constituent theological colleges of the University of Divinity, an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in divinity. The college is located in East Melbourne, Victoria.
Kathleen McPhillips is an Australian sociologist of religion and gender in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle, Australia and the current vice-president of the Australian Association for the Study of Religion.
Katharine Massam is a professor of church history based at the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia.
Angela Coco is an Australian sociologist and academic whose primary research interests have been in the area of the sociology of religion, new religious movements, Catholicism, and Paganism.
Kim E. Power is an Australian academic, feminist theologian and church historian, who was a co-founder of the Golding Centre for Women's History, Theology and Spirituality at the Australian Catholic University.
Mary Rose MacGinley pbvm was an Australian Presentation sister, academic and historian of women religious. She was the co-founder of the Golding Centre for Women’s History, Theology and Spirituality at the Australian Catholic University.
Bernice Moore is an Australian educator and former Sister of the Good Samaritan from Sydney. She is known for her significant contributions to the fields of education, feminist theology and social justice. Moore was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1997.