I don't mind people getting excited over Mary McKillop, although I can't personally find much sympathy for someone who was instrumental in creating the great state vs private divide in our education system and the class system which has largely resulted from it. After all, far more people get excited about a horse race or a football match. But it does irritate me when the NSW 'newspaper of record', with a perfectly straight face, posts articles documenting the 'miracles' achieved -- not even by McKillop herself, note, but by her immaterial soul, long after the lady herself had become worm food.

Somebody needs to grow up and get a grip.

What need have we for articles dissing religion, yet again? Like female stand up comedians who only seem to be able to resort to one-liners about 'getting p*ss*d', anti-religion articles demonstrate a similar lack of imagination. Now write about something worth reading.

Pericles thanks to you I enjoy a great laugh during your postings!

Strange, ausdag - I didn't read this as an anti-religion article at all. It simply questioned the interest from non-religious Australians in a purely religious matter.

I don't know that Mary Mackillop can be held accountable for the 'class divide' that apparently emerges from private education. How many children from rural Catholic schools go on to become upper-class toffs in our society? The schools she established were hardly GPS institutions. The very purpose of their establishment was to fill a gap left by colonial governments who had failed to establish schools of any kind in rural areas. Additionally, she was an advocate of free schooling (her own schools did not charge fees) in a time when such a thing was a novel idea indeed.

Otokonoko, it was the eventual outcome of the popularity and success of catholic education that 'led' to the current system. In Goulburn in NSW the catholic schools threatened to close and flood the public schools with their students if they didin't receive government support. They did, and state funding of private education started. I think there is still as separate funding deal for catholic schools, which are often a lot cheaper than similar non-catholic private schools. None of which is to say that Mary McKillop wasn't doing a good thing.