From this beginning a Congregation of Sisters was established at Perthville 16th July 1872. Bishop Matthew Quinn of Bathurst changed the character of the Congregation from one governed by Central Authority, as upheld by Rome in 1873, to a Diocesan Institute.

Father Julian Tenison Woods inspired the Sisters of St Joseph, Perthville, [known as the Black Josephites], and guided the newly emerging Institute under the direction of Bishop Quinn. Communities of Sisters were later sent from Perthville to Whanganui, New Zealand, 24th April 1880; to Goulburn, New South Wales, 13th August 1882; to Lochinvar, New south Wales, 2nd September 1883; and Westbury, Tasmania, 24th May 1887.

In response to the Second Vatican Council the five Congregations of Sisters of St Joseph, while retaining autonomy as independent religious associations formed the Australian-New Zealand Federation of Sisters of St Joseph, which was established, and its statutes approved, by the Sacred Congregation of Religious on 28th July 1967.

Father Julian Tenison Woods

Father Julian Edmund Tenison Woods was invited as a layman in 1855 to Australia by the Bishop of Hobart. He moved to Adelaide where he studied with the Jesuits and after ordination in 1857 was appointed as the first parish priest of Penola in South Australia, a huge parish of 22,000 sq miles with three main towns, Penola, Mt Gambier and Robe.

He met Mary MacKillop at Penola and together they founded the Sisters of St Joseph in 1867. He spent a number of years in the Diocese of Bathurst, preaching missions and retreats. In 1876 at the request of Bishop Matthew Quinn, he wrote the new rule for the Diocesan Congregation of Sisters. Between 1872 and 1882 Father Woods preached retreats for the Sisters and encouraged the Sisters and children during numerous visits.

Julian was a scientist and geologist of note, studying coral fossils in particular. He wrote many scientific treatises which were published. He travelled through Java, Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines and mapped out deposits of coal and minerals. He died in Sydney in 1889 and is buried at Waverley cemetery.

Mary MacKillop(1842 to 1909)

Mary MacKillop was born on January 15th, 1842 of Scottish parents, Alexander MacKillop and Flora MacDonald, in Melbourne, Australia.

At the age of nineteen, Mary and her sister Annie took positions as teachers in a school in Portland, Victoria. There she met Father Julian Tenison Woods who invited her to open a Catholic school in Penola, South Australia. In 1866 Mary began her great life's work for God, in founding the Congregation of Sisters of St, Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

Throughout her life Mary met with opposition from people, most of whom were inside the Church. In the most difficult of times, she consistently refused to attack those who wrongly accused her and undermined her work. Instead she continued in the way she believed God was calling her and was always ready to forgive those who wronged her.

Mary suffered ill health most of her life, but despite this she continued her work of reaching out ot the poorer people. The early sisters and lay teachers, under the guidance of Mary MacKillop, had a profound influence on the forming of Catholic education as we have come to know and experience it today.

Mary's deep spirituality and vision took her to the people and children in remote parts of Australia and New Zealand. Following in her footsteps. the Josephites have been faithful to their call to serve the poor, the migrants, the marginalised, the people of the outback not only in Australia and New Zealand but also in other Countries when needs arise.

Mother Mary of the Cross--Mary MacKillop-- died on August 8th, 1909 in the convent at Mount Street, North Sydney, where she is now buried. She was Beatified by Pope John Paul 11 on 19th January, 1995.