Vale Sister Sophie McGrath rsm

ACU pays tribute to Sister Sophie McGrath rsm on her recent passing. Sr Sophie was a Sister of Mercy based at the Strathfield Campus, as well as a scholar on the role and significance of women in the Church.

Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Greg Craven AO GCSG stated that, “Sophie was a pioneering leader in Catholic academia in Australia, particularly in researching the role of women in the history of the Australian Church landscape. Her work in establishing the Golding Centre for Women’s History at ACU in 2000 was a particular achievement for which she will be remembered.”

Situated within the School of Theology, and named in honour of three Australian Catholic women, Annie, Kate and Belle Golding, the primary objective of the Golding Centre is to provide a sound academic basis for the Catholic Church’s response to the desire and need of women to recover their history, their theology, and their spirituality.

Through the Golding Centre and supported by colleagues within the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, Sr Sophie successfully supervised seven doctoral dissertations across a range of themes and topics that connected with and advanced the objectives of the centre.

That Sr Sophie was to retire at the end of 2020 makes her passing, and the unfinished project of the Golding Centre, all the more poignant.

Please join us in offering our prayers and condolences to all of Sr Sophie’s religious family in the Parramatta Mercy Institute, as well as her colleagues in the School of Theology and her many former students.

May we continue to be inspired by Sr Sophie McGrath’s rich and deep faith, her scholarship, and her vision for the contribution of women to the life of the Church.