Call to mission

de Susan Smith

The first four Mission Sisters journeyed from France to Napier, New Zealand, in 1865. One hundred years later, there were more than three hundred Sisters living and working in New Zealand and elsewhere. Sadly, national and diocesan church histories in New Zealand tend to overlook the important contribution that women, particularly Catholic Sisters, have made to the life of the Church. This book attempts to redress that situation by directing attention to the significant educational and pastoral ministries in which the Mission Sisters were involved before Vatican II, and the changes that the Vatican Council's decrees and teachings meant for their lives and ministries. The last section explores the spirituality of the Sisters. The close relationship between their mission and their spirituality, and the pre-Vatican and post-Vatican II theologies in which they were and are grounded are rigorously and sensitively explored. This book is an important landmark in understanding better the contribution of the Mission Sisters in New Zealand, and overseas in countries as diverse as Sudan, India, or Samoa.