A scholarly work entitled ‘Julian Tenison Woods, The Human Journey: Priest, Founder, Friend’ written by Sr Jan Tranter rsj was launched on 31 May 2026 by Bishop Michael Kennedy in the Diocesan Resource Centre at Hamilton.
The Friday Mass community at St Joseph’s Church in the Newcastle suburb of The Junction invited the Sisters of St Joseph to a Mass on 23rd May to mark 100 years since the laying of the foundation stone of St Joseph’s Convent.
Many people gathered at St Therese’s Church, New Lambton to celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial for Josephite Sister Therese Connolly who had died on 11 May 2026 at Calvary St Martin de Porres Aged Care facility, Waratah.
The Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar has its origins in the sisterhood which gathered around Rev Julian Tenison Woods and St Mary of the Cross MacKillop at Penola in South Australia in 1866 and which spread to Perthville NSW in 1872.
The founding Sisters of the Lochinvar Congregation came from Perthville, arriving on 2 September 1883.
From Lochinvar the Sisters established schools and pastoral ministries throughout the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle and beyond.
Photo of Fr Tenison Woods and Mary MacKillop: © 2023 Trustees of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart ABN 33
293 441 659. All rights reserved. No unauthorised reproductions permitted.
Through baptism all Christians are called to share in the mission of Jesus. By our religious profession we publicly commit ourselves to that mission: to proclaim and witness to God’s love and presence in the world by our way of life and apostolic service. In this we are supported and energised by our life in community and our commitment to prayer.
Sisters of St Joseph, Lochinvar, stand for the Gospel. We choose and cherish life.
Our Founders urged us to do good and have a great zeal for souls … (to) never leave a good work untried and never spare yourselves.
We seek to remain open to present and emerging needs in order to serve among God’s people whose life experiences challenge and enrich us.
Our Constitutions: A Future and A Hope, 2000
We acknowledge the First Peoples who have walked upon and cared for this land for thousands of years. We commit ourselves to the ongoing journey of Reconciliation.