Pilgrim trail shows promise

SAINTLY: Suzanne Aubert (Mother Mary Aubert), founder of the Sisters of Compassion. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

By David Scoullar

SUZANNE Aubert's slow journey towards sainthood should be followed by more than passing interest in Whanganui. The implications of this Catholic religious sister becoming New Zealand's first saint are huge. And Whanganui stands to be a major beneficiary.

French-born Aubert (1835-1926), better known to many by her cleric name, Sister Mary Joseph or Mother Aubert, was driven by social concern and devoted her life to helping others.

In 1892 she established the congregation of the Sisters of Compassion at Jerusalem on the Whanganui River. They became a highly respected charitable nursing/religious order.

She also established the Jerusalem foundling home which housed and cared for abandoned children. The convent remains on the mission property, as well as St Joseph's Church which replaced the original building destroyed by fire, and Sisters of Compassion still care for them.

The process for Suzanne Aubert's canonisation as a saint began in 2010 and may take many more years. In the meantime, the Compassion Sisters are looking to create Places of Pilgrimage in locations significant during Aubert's time.

As the birthplace of the Compassion Sisters, Jerusalem is certain to be one of those named and this will surely increase the number of people visiting the tiny settlement.

This stream is poised to become a torrent when sainthood is finally confirmed, and the Whanganui River Rd will become New Zealand's first pilgrim trail, which could see visitors stopping at some or all of the churches on the route from St Paul's Memorial Church at Putiki through to St Joseph's in Jerusalem.

It will be our answer to Spain's Camino de Santiago, the famous pilgrim trail walked by hundreds of thousands of Christian pilgrims and others each year.

Just as the communities on the Camino benefit economically, Whanganui is also in line for a financial boost from our trail, with an influx of modern pilgrims and others keen to remove themselves from the bustle of modern life.

* David Scoullar is a former journalist, a lay chaplain and a keen tramper and conservationist.