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 too 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 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.

Author Biography

Susan Smith, a Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions, is currently an Adjunct Faculty Lecturer in Theology at the University of Auckland, and is involved in researching and writing the history of her religious congregation. Prior to that, she has worked in Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, and Ethiopia. Her research interests include women in the New Testament, missionary women in Christian history, and contextual theology.