Can you introduce yourself and your role at Catholic Mission?
My name is Pauline, and I am the archivist at Catholic Mission. I care for the records that tell the story of the organisation and the people who have shaped its work, in Australia and around the world.
This year, as we mark 100 years of World Mission Sunday, those records give us a way to look back at how Catholics have answered the call to mission. Through letters, photographs, magazines and annual reports, we can see how that call has been understood and lived over time, and how it continues to shape Catholic Mission today.
Pauline, as Catholic Mission marks 100 years of World Mission Sunday, what has surprised you most in the archives?
The involvement of laypeople is one of the major changes visible in the records. Earlier documents are often in Latin, and priests held many of the formal leadership roles. Over time, there was greater involvement by lay missionaries and schools.
I was interested to find material showing that the Australian bishops were concerned with mission among Aboriginal people from the 1920s. There is also documentation from a 1938 missionary and Eucharistic congress celebrating the 150th anniversary of Australia's foundation, involving missionary bishops and discussions about mission in Australia. These sources offer an important view of the organisation’s history, although the language and assumptions of the period need to be read in their historical context.
Other valuable sources include annual reports, circulars from about 1940 to 1955, letters, and papers and talks given by former directors. I have also researched Pauline Jaricot and the 1922 transition to pontifical status. It showed a clear elevation and recognition of the work already being done on the ground by many lay and religious missionaries.
Looking across those 100 years, how has the understanding and expression of mission changed?
For my mother’s generation, the public image of ‘the missions’ was closely tied to giving money for children overseas. That is quite different from the way Catholic Mission speaks about mission today. The records show a gradual change in language, in who takes part, and in the attention given to the Church’s social teaching, schools and local communities. The adoption of the name Catholic Mission is another part of that story.
The older mission magazine is useful evidence of how the work was communicated. When I was growing up, people who contributed to the missions received a copy of the Catholic Mission magazine. This magazine ceased in 1971. Much of its content concerned overseas missions, though it also included some interviews with people in Australia. Peter and I have compared surviving copies and volumes to work out what is held and what is missing.
That absence matters. Some material appears to have been discarded during earlier office moves. As an archivist, I am conscious that the story is shaped both by what survives and by what has been lost. Sometimes what is missing tells us more than what is still here.
Was the Second Vatican Council a turning point in how mission was communicated, or was the change more gradual?
The change was gradual. Vatican II and later teaching, including Pope Paul VI’s writing on evangelisation, helped develop an understanding that mission belongs to everyone in the Church, not only to priests and religious. You can see this alongside the growing involvement of laypeople, changes in language and the organisation’s name, and greater attention to the Australian context.
At the same time, I would not draw a hard line between ‘before’ and ‘after’. Broader changes in Australian society after the Second World War, including migration, also affected attitudes. The shift took place over time.
How did you come to work with Catholic Mission’s archives, and what has that work involved?
I am a qualified librarian and archivist, and I now look after Catholic Mission’s archives. Before that, I worked for the Department of Defence on naval history research and a history portal. I then joined the Archdiocese of Sydney as an archivist at Fr Brian Lucas’s invitation.
Later, as I began to retire from the Archdiocese, Fr Brian suggested that I come and work for Catholic Mission. I thought he was joking. A couple of months later, he rang and asked when I was going to start. So that is how I came here.
Initially, I worked on Sharing the Word, a database intended to help seminaries in countries with limited access to theological resources. Catholic Mission supported the project. Eventually, however, it became less useful and was put aside.
Fr Brian then asked me to help organise the library collection and papers. During COVID, I worked from home on research for his writing, including material about Pauline Jaricot, her beatification, the history of the Pontifical Mission Societies, and why the Society’s headquarters moved from Paris to Rome and became pontifical in 1922. A French book of Pauline Jaricot’s letters was particularly useful. It reminded me how much one can discover by reading footnotes closely.
I also worked with Peter Gates to assess and weed the collection ahead of the office move. We considered what to bring, what to leave and what to place in storage. These were sometimes difficult decisions. Some significant material remains in storage, and I hope some of it can eventually be brought up.
Why is it important to preserve and revisit this history as we mark the centenary?
Having an archivist on staff helps people see the value of the records and what they can tell us. Staff come to me with questions, and that creates a better understanding of what archival and library research can do for the organisation. A librarian does much more than lend out books: research has been central to my work throughout my career.
Catholic Mission has a long history in Australia and overseas. The centenary is an opportunity to understand that history and to see how the organisation arrived at where it is today. Now we look to the future of digitalisation to make these records accessible.
