The enduring legacy of Venerable Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert was celebrated in Wellington, New Zealand, on Sunday – almost 100 years to the day since crowds packed that city’s streets to farewell her. Source: CathNews NZ.
New Zealand’s bishops joined the Sisters of Compassion, the order Mother Aubert founded, and members of the wider community for the Mass at St Mary of the Angels Church as part of Celebrate Compassion 2026, a year-long program marking the centenary of her death.
In his homily, Wellington Archbishop Paul Martin SM said the impact of the French-born religious sister who came to serve the people of New Zealand extends beyond the Church.
“Meri Hōhepa belongs to the story of the Church in this land and, increasingly, to the story of Aotearoa New Zealand itself,” he said.
Reflecting on her life of service, Archbishop Martin said Mother Aubert understood that “faith wasn’t something to be kept within the walls of a church” but was shown in the way people treat those who are poor, vulnerable and on the margins.
He highlighted her close relationship with Māori communities, noting that she learned te reo Māori, lived among Māori and built relationships of trust and friendship.
“Her life reminds us that Christian mission is not simply about bringing something to people. It is also about receiving, listening, learning, becoming a neighbour, and recognising the presence of God already at work in another culture and among another people,” he said.
Archbishop Martin also paid tribute to the Sisters of Compassion for carrying forward Mother Aubert’s charism for more than 130 years.
Sr Margaret Anne Mills, the congregational leader of the Sisters of Compassion, noted that Mother Aubert’s “large-hearted neighbourliness and upholding of the dignity of all people” is part of her inspiring legacy that lives with people now and in the future.
Archbishop Martin said Suzanne Aubert’s example remains highly relevant in a society where many people still experience poverty, loneliness, illness and exclusion.
“The best way to honour Suzanne Aubert is not simply to remember her; it is to continue what she began,” he said.
“May the next chapter of her story be written not only in books and commemorations, but in the lives of people who choose to live the same Gospel of compassion.”
Suzanne Aubert was born in St Symphorien-de-Lay, France, on June 19,1835, and died in Wellington on October 1, 1926, aged 91.
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Celebration marks centenary of Suzanne Aubert’s death (CathNews NZ)
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