Mr Rudd rightly said on Sunday that Mary MacKillop was “an extraordinary Australian, an extraordinary worker for the poor.”

And that “this is a moment not just for commemoration and reflection and celebration by the Catholic community, but by the entire Australian community.”

We might all reflect on Pope John Paul II’s words at the time of Blessed Mary’s beatification, “Mary MacKillop cannot be understood without reference to her religious vocation . . . Mother Mary of the Cross did not just free people from ignorance through schooling, or alleviating their suffering through compassionate care. She worked to satisfy their deeper, though sometimes unconscious, longing for ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’.”

A new book has been written to help Australians get their facts straight about our first “saint”.

It’s called “The REAL Mary MacKillop”.

It can be purchased online at www.therealmarymackillop.com

Excerpts from the book may also be read at the site.