Evidence for sainthood being sent to Rome

By PHILIP ENGLISH

Catholics have compiled evidence supporting a bid to declare Suzanne Aubert New Zealand's first saint and will send it to Rome for consideration by the Congregation for Saints.

Aubert founded New Zealand's only religious order that persists until today, the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion.

As Mother Mary Joseph Aubert, she is recognised as a tireless worker who cared for the old, the poor, the sick and abandoned babies without any concern for their race or religion.

She was born in 1835 in France, arrived here in the 1860s and died in 1926.

Aubert is credited with becoming the country's first district nurse.

"She looked after people with incurable diseases, she was a pioneer of early childhood education and she is also now recognised as one of the pioneers of New Zealand's social welfare system," says Sister Josephine Gorman, assistant archivist with the Sisters of Compassion.

Aubert is also regarded as an early biotechnologist, having made and sold remedies made from native plants.

In 1997, when Jessie Munro's biography The Story of Suzanne Aubert won the Montana Book of the Year award, the New Zealand Catholic Bishop's Conference agreed to support her sainthood.

This month, a diocesan inquiry completed its collection of evidence for her sainthood. That evidence will be sent to the Congregation for Saints.

"No one knows how long it will take," says Sister Josephine.

"We are hoping that it will be quite soon because New Zealand has never had a saint. We are thinking that could be a reason to hurry the process."

The delay in seeking sainthood since Aubert's death in 1926 has been put down to the Great Depression and World War II.

In the 1950s and 1960s, it was thought that sainthood for Aubert was premature and the cause was postponed.

But the latest edition of the newspaper New Zealand Catholic says sainthood for Suzanne Aubert would be a boost for the Church.

In an editorial, the paper said: "One of the main reasons the Church proclaims saints is to encourage the rest of us to live like them, and Mother Aubert's life and work offer much to emulate."

Sisters of Compassion