THERE would be few parish pastoral councillors in south-east Queensland who wouldn’t be familiar with Josephite Sister Cecilia Anning.
Sr Cecilia has spent 17 years working with parishes, primarily in Brisbane archdiocese, to establish or further develop their pastoral councils. This time of her service will come to an end when Sr Cecilia officially retires from her current work and is replaced in her position.
Talking to Cecilia about her work with pastoral councils it’s easy to see the role was a perfect fit and natural progression from her early years teaching in schools in Queensland and NSW for the Sisters of St Joseph.
Cecilia, the eldest of Alan and Bernie Anning’s seven children, is a true Queenslander, born in Hughenden, an area inhabited by Annings since the 1860s.
Those early beginnings in country Queensland were to prove a bonus in later years allowing her to easily identify with rural communities when her pastoral council work took her to places like the Toowoomba diocese.
Although the Josephite Sisters were well established in Queensland in the 1950s Cecilia was actually educated by the Good Samaritan Sisters in Hughenden and then Townsville before moving to Brisbane as a boarder for her early secondary education with the Sisters of Mercy at All Hallows’ School, which was her Mum, Bernie’s, much loved old school.
In spite of the many opportunities there, two years of homesickness brought her back north to complete her secondary education at home with the Mercy Sisters at St Patrick’s in Townsville.
Sr Cecilia admits that even though she had no knowledge of Mary MacKillop in those days she’s sure Mary MacKillop had a hand in her vocation.
“I remember in Grade 12 writing an assignment in which I discussed the future and mentioned hoping to become a nun later on,” she said.
“After completing high school, I went to the Teachers’ College at Kelvin Grove, planning to enter the Good Samaritan Sisters later.
“While in Brisbane, I was boarding in the Windsor area with another friend from Townsville, Elizabeth Murray, and that is where I met the Josephites.
“My friend was learning music from the Sisters at Windsor at the time, and I used to go there with her and we also went to Mass every day.
“From the first time I met the Josephites, I had a strong sense of being at home with them and a sense that I really belonged there.
“Reflecting later on, I realised that it was probably the spirit of Mary MacKillop that attracted me, but I didn’t recognise it then because I had never heard of Mary MacKillop.”
Those people who have known Sr Cecilia Anning over her life would probably consider Mary made a good choice.
Sr Cecilia reflects many of Mary’s own qualities such as seeing and responding to the needs around her which these days includes daily visits to her frail mother at Penola Nursing Home, in Nundah, Brisbane.
After completing her teacher training, Cecilia entered the Josephites in the early 1960s, a move that took her back north to Wandal, a Josephite primary school in Rockhampton, as a postulant.
Then came a two-year novitiate at Baulkham Hills in Sydney before being professed in 1964.
She said that, while fellow Josephites then went on to undertake teacher training, she was appointed to teach at a school at Lavender Bay in North Sydney.
“I already had my qualifications and actually my group who were training to be teachers had to practise on my class and I had to comment on them,” she said.
Her first appointment in 1965 was greeted with enthusiasm by mum Bernie as it was back in her home state.
“My first appointment was Mt Isa and my mother was thrilled that I was so close to home, only 600 kilometres away,” Sr Cecilia said. “When I told the other Sisters in my group in Sydney how close to home I would soon be, it became quite a joke.”
That first year as one of two Josephites teaching at San Jose, a new Josephite secondary school in Mt Isa, was the start of long secondary teaching career in a number of Josephite schools including Our Lady’s College, Annerley; Corpus Christi, (Mary MacKillop College) Nundah; and as part of the foundation staff at Trinity College, Beenleigh.
During those years Sr Cecilia also managed to find the time to go back to school herself and complete a science degree at the University of Queensland so she was qualified in a subject she loved.
But life even then was guiding Cecilia towards a much broader education ministry than just secondary school students.
As with fellow Josephites, Cecilia taught in schools by day and was engaged in parish work by night in areas such as RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) programs.
She loved the work!
“That was part of the Josephite life. You always did parish things as well,” Sr Cecilia said. “I remember I loved working with those groups.”
After personal discernment and a break from teaching Sr Cecilia applied to move into adult pastoral work full-time.
“In those days Fr Tom Hegerty at Sunnybank was the priest you had to go and see about getting a job in the diocese and at the interview, he offered me a job in his parish on the spot,” Sr Cecilia said.
Fr Hegerty employed Sr Cecilia as Adult Faith Education co-ordinator, a position she took to instantly.
“I just loved it. I spent seven years there then took a year at Banyo in the same role,” she said.
During that time Ellen Mallon, from the Archdiocesan Secretariat for Pastoral Councils, had invited Sr Cecilia onto the secretariat as the member from a religious order. Then, with the need for more support for the growing need for work with pastoral councils, it was decided Ellen needed an assistant.
“When they advertised I thought, that’s for me and I applied and got the job,” Sr Cecilia said.
That was in 1994 and Ellen and Sr Cecilia became great friends and, together with a committee, wrote the initial book for pastoral councils.
“In those days most literature about pastoral councils was from overseas so we saw the need for our own Handbook for Parish Pastoral Councils, for the Brisbane archdiocese,” Sr Cecilia said.
“Probably because it was an Australian publication, there were also many requests for it from other Australian dioceses.”
The need for a second edition, The Handbook for Parish Pastoral Councils 1999, soon became clear.
So, it was written, and later refined, as part of Sr Cecilia’s Masters studies in Leadership at Australian Catholic University, following on from her graduate diploma in Theology.
The aim of this text was to write for all of Australia, rather than focusing only on Brisbane archdiocese.
“While it contained the relevant academic material, this version was very much based on experience gained from working with scores of local pastoral councils,” Sr Cecilia said. “As well as in Brisbane, the 5000 copies soon found an Australia-wide market. So the need for a third edition arose and it was published in 2007.
“It too is being used across Australia and beyond our shores and will soon be reprinted.”
Nine years after Sr Cecilia began working with the pastoral councils, Ellen retired in 2003 and Sr Cecilia paid tribute to her work and her friendship.
“I delighted in working closely with Ellen and learnt so much from her. She also inspired me with her enthusiasm, her deep commitment and conviction,” she said.
In her 17 years, both with Ellen and then alone, Sr Cecilia has helped establish about 40 pastoral councils, mostly in Brisbane but also across at least 10 other dioceses.
She said she soon learned that the establishment of pastoral councils was only the beginning of their ongoing need for further formation, growth and development, and that has become the essence of her work.
For Sr Cecilia, her opportunity to work with so many dedicated priests and committed and gifted parishioners has been a source of great joy and inspiration.
“These seventeen years have been the happiest of my working life,” she said.
“I believe passionately in the value and the richness of the contribution to the life of the Church, by so many of its members.
“I consider that they are truly part of the greatest resources of our Church.
“In addition, the many opportunities I’ve experienced have highlighted for me Mary MacKillop’s inspiration to respect the dignity and worth of all people.”
This year Sr Cecilia is planning her new role.
First she will hand over the reigns of pastoral council service to her colleague Judy Norris. Then she will take a significant break, as well as having the opportunity to spend more time supporting her elderly mother, before considering her next challenge.
Her final archdiocesan commitment will be at the Annual Commissioning Mass for Pastoral Councils at St Stephen’s Cathedral, celebrated today (May 29) by Archbishop John Bathersby at 2.30pm, to which the community is invited.
