Author(s): Josephine Laffin

Western

On 17 October 2010 Mary MacKillop became the first Australian citizen to be officially proclaimed a saint by the Catholic Church. This event, and the long canonisation process which preceded it, has received much coverage in the Australian media. Yet confusion persists over what exactly it means to be a saint. In this book scholars from the Catholic Theological College of South Australia and the Flinders University School of Theology share reflections from different perspectives: historical, biblical, philosophical, theological, ethical, spiritual, liturgical and personal. Veneration of St Mary MacKillop is set in the context of a tradition which can be traced back to Christian martyrs in the ancient Roman Empire, and which, it is argued, is still meaningful today.