46 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst Year in Review 2025 Sr Helen Duffy RSM Remembered for a Life of Faith, Wisdom and Service. Sister Helen Duffy RSM, a beloved member of the Sisters of Mercy, died peacefully on Tuesday, 6 May 2025, at Mercy Place in East Melbourne. She was 83 years old and in the 63rd year of her religious profession. Raised in Bendigo and educated at St Mary’s College, Helen grew up in a household where faith and service were woven into daily life. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1960, following a path of deep faith and service that ran through her family. She was the sister of the late Mary Duffy RSM, who died in September 2024, and of the late Fr Maurice Duffy, a respected priest who served as Rector of Pius XII Seminary in Brisbane. Also a twin to her brother Terry, who died in 2004. Throughout her ministry, Sr Helen served in education, chaplaincy, parish life and spiritual direction. She worked at the Catholic Education Office in Melbourne, where she became known for her inspiring and practical approach to religious education. She later specialised in contemplative prayer and spiritual formation, leading retreats and workshops across Australia. Helen lived with significant physical disability following several strokes but never allowed her condition to define her. Her life was marked by resilience, creativity and a contemplative spirit. Those who knew her remember her generosity and her deep love of scripture and poetry. The Sisters of Mercy and the many people whose lives Helen touched give thanks for her witness and her enduring legacy of quiet strength and spiritual depth. Many celebrated the life of Sr Helen at her Funeral Mass at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church, Ivanhoe, on 15 May 2025. Sister Kathleen Monica Slattery, founding principal of St Peter’s Primary School, North Bendigo, passed away peacefully on 11 April 2025, aged 94. A dedicated Religious Sister of Mercy, educator and quiet leader, she leaves a legacy of faith, creativity and compassion that continues to shape generations. Born in Diggora in March 1931, Sr Kathleen grew up in a close-knit farming family and was the only one of her siblings to win a scholarship to St Mary’s College, Bendigo, where she boarded from 1944 to 1948. It was during these years that she discerned her twin callings: to teach and to serve as a Sister of Mercy. Sr Kathleen began teaching in 1951 and became known for her commitment to helping children discover their own worth and potential. In 1971, she was appointed founding principal of St Peter’s Primary School, North Bendigo. When the school opened in 1972 with 72 students, she was its sole teacher. With limited resources but abundant faith and energy, she and her colleague, Christine Gardiner, built a thriving community grounded in care and respect.“The school was just a dust bowl and nothing else,” Sr Kathleen later recalled. “We didn’t have any money.” What they did have was vision – a belief that education could transform lives. The school’s enduring values — care for self, others, learning and the environment – remain a living reflection of her leadership. Beyond her work at St Peter’s, Sr Kathleen was deeply involved in the wider Mercy community. She maintained strong ties with Catherine McAuley College and delighted in connecting with students through the iGEN program, where she shared her stories and wisdom with characteristic warmth and humour. Gifted in many ways, Sr Kathleen also expressed her faith through art and creativity. At her 90th birthday celebration, Fr Rom Hayes described her simply as “beauty” — not only in presence, but in the grace with which she lived her life. For more than seventy years, Sr Kathleen gave her gifts generously to the Church and to Catholic education. Her legacy lives on in the classrooms, chapels and communities she helped shape. In Memoriam Sr Kathleen Slattery RSM In Memoriam
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