Australian-born sister, doctor and missionary in India Mary Glowrey, has had her cause for sainthood advanced by Pope Leo XIV, recognising her heroic virtues and becoming just the second Australian after St Mary Mackillop to be afforded the status of "Venerable".
Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey as she is now titled, was born in the Victorian town of Birregurra in 1887 and was an experienced doctor in Melbourne.
Inspired by a pamphlet about the life of Agnes McLaren, a pioneering Scottish missionary doctor, and the need for women doctors in India, she discerned the call to religious life. At 32, she travelled to India, joined the Congregation of Jesus Mary Joseph and took the religious name Mary of the Sacred Heart. She would dedicated 37 years of her life to the service of marginalised women and children in India, and would never return to her native Australia.
Drawing on her experience as a doctor, she provided direct medical care for hundreds of thousands of patients, and trained local women to be compounders (dispensers), midwives and nurses. She also founded what is now India's largest non-government healthcare network, the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI).
"A proud daughter of Melbourne, Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey was a trailblazer — one of our early female doctors — before answering the call to serve in India," Archbishop of Melbourne, Archbishop Peter A Comensoli said.
"Her healing hands, her compassion, and her bold spirit were a living sign of God’s tenderness. May her example and intercession continue to inspire Aussies and people everywhere to live lives of service and holiness."
Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey passed away in 1957 in Bangalore. The cause for her canonisation was initiated in India by the Bishop of Guntur, where she spent much of her life. It continues to be supported by the Congregation of Jesus Mary Joseph, the religious society to which she belonged.
Pope Leo’s decree marks the second major step in the formal process toward sainthood, signifying that the Church has officially found evidence of a life marked by extraordinary virtue. The next phase, beatification, will require the approval of a miracle attributed to her intercession.