New Docu-Drama on Mary MacKillop Superb

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
13 Aug 2010

"BLESSED MARY: A Saint for All Australians"

Early previews of a superb and beautifully-shot television docu-drama of Mary MacKillop which explores her remarkable life, her up-coming canonisation and her legacy, is already being described as a classic and winning rave reviews.

"BLESSED MARY: A Saint for All Australians", which will be a featured production on Foxtel's History Channel on Sunday 10 October, exactly one week  before Mary MacKillop is canonised in Rome by Pope Benedict XVI.

Hosted by broadcaster, Alan Jones, the hour long special, moves from Fitzroy, Melbourne where Mary spent an often troubled and poverty-ridden girlhood, to Penola in South Australia and the first school Mary established for the poor and disadvantaged. Locations then move across Australia recording significant events in her life before heading to Europe and Rome, where Mary went to plead her case in 1873, and ask the Pope to recognise the Order of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, which she had co founded with Fr Julian Tenison-Woods.

In either St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney or on location in Penola, Alan links the historical pathway of Australia's first saint. The story itself is taken from the enormous resource of correspondence to, from and about Mary.

Narrator: Alan Jones

The docu-drama which was produced by Michael Tear, directed by Serge Ou and written by Michael Cove, is a no-expense-spared, high quality production. It is beautifully shot and vividly recreates the important moments of Mary's life. These include dramatic scenes when she is forced to defend herself against false charges of drunkenness and excommunication by the arrogant and misogynistic Bishop Sheil, the then Bishop of Adelaide, who believed Mary and the Order of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, which she had founded, should be under his jurisdiction and answerable to him, and not an independent congregation.

In addition to powerful portrayals of Mary's life by leading actors who also look startlingly like the men and women they represent, the docu-drama also contains illuminating interviews with the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell who gives a real insight into the life of Australia's first saint and her selfless devotion, as well as her fierce will and determination.

Cardinal Pell also explores the often turbulent changes in Australia and Australian society that took place during Mary's lifetime, against a background of equally dynamic changes in the Catholic Church itself.

"BLESSED MARY: A Saint for All Australians"

The Sisters of St Joseph also talk about their founder, the path to canonisation and what this means is also explored.

"BLESSED MARY: A Saint for All Australians" will appeal to Catholics and non Catholics alike with its mix of drama, intrigue, social history as well as the detailed insights into how someone is chosen for canonisation and what this means. But above all the hour long docu-drama is about the power of faith and the inspiration that continues to this day from one woman's determination to help the poor and marginalised and to give all children the opportunity of a free education no matter what their financial circumstances, their race, their colour or their creed.

Mary MacKillop's legacy lives on 101 years after her death and this powerful docu-drama goes to air on the History Channel on 10 October and will be shown again on the History Channel on 17 October.
It is a story of intrigue, drama and controversy. More importantly it is  a story of piety, devotion and faith.

The hour long special will also be available on DVD from 13 October from Mary MacKillop Place at North Sydney and other major outlets.