MOVES are afoot to have a former Koroit district woman murdered in Papua New Guinea 47 years ago declared Australia’s second Catholic saint.
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Connie Gladman, known as Sister Rosina, was beheaded in her classroom in New Britain while working as a teaching nun among impoverished communities.
Now her family has instigated an official request for canonisation as a martyr for her faith.
A letter from her sisters Barbara Mills and Muriel McElgunn of Koroit has been given to the New Britain bishop to set official wheels in motion for the long procession of canonisation approvals.
If the Pope and Vatican back the cause Sr Rosina would join Sr Mary MacKillop, who also had south-west Victorian connections, as an Australian Catholic saint.
Mrs Mills and Mrs McElgunn along with two nieces and a son-in-law visited Sr Rosina’s gravesite late last month to celebrate the 47th anniversary of her brutal death.
Accompanying them was Sr Rosina’s great nephew, Father John Corrigan, who later visited the local bishop to present the letter of request.
It is expected to stimulate a groundswell of support from the local population for canonisation.
“It is the hope and prayers of the people of New Britain that she is recognised as a saint,” Mrs McElgunn told The Standard yesterday.
“Everyone we met during our trip knew about her.
“Our visit to the gravesite was a very moving experience, to be able to reflect on her life.”
As they approached the cemetery on their unannounced pilgrimage, the south-west Victorian visitors experienced their own little miracle of chance.
Out of a nearby coconut grave came a local barefoot nun — Sister Regina.
It turned out she was a former pupil in Sr Rosina’s classes.
“She was over the moon to see us. It was just like a little miracle,” Mrs McElgunn.
The push for canonisation was initiated by Koroit identity Mary Fiorini-Lowell who even visited well-connected church officials in Rome last year with the idea.
She was told the move had to come from the deceased’s parish for it to gain official traction. “Mary told us Australia had just one saint and we could not let the opportunity pass for Sr Rosina to be recognised,” Mrs McElgunn said.
“So Barbara and I wrote a letter with the story of Connie’s life and work with a request for the cause of canonisation through martyrdom.”
Connie Gladman was raised in Warrong as the oldest of seven children.
She completed her education in Warrnambool before heading to a Melbourne teachers’ college then joining the Catholic order of Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Her death came when a man armed with a small axe sneaked into her classroom and attacked while she had her back to him.
“It was a very large funeral,” Mrs McElgunn said.
“They buried her on the afternoon that she was killed.”
Meanwhile, Sr Mary Thecla Slattery, who taught at Port Fairy from 1961-72, has died in Melbourne aged 107.
