Principal’s Address 2024
Good evening and welcome all. My name is Anna Masters and I am blessed to be Principal of Merici College, a dynamic learning environment that was established over 65 years ago.
On Sunday 22 March 1959, His Grace Archbishop O’Brien formally blessed and opened Canberra Catholic Girls’ High School. As the first Catholic Secondary College for girls in Canberra, Merici was and remains unique. Moving away from the usual Australian custom of placing a school under the direction of nuns from one religious congregation, the first 15 members of the school staff were drawn from six Orders: the Good Samaritan Sisters, Brigidine Sisters, Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of St Joseph, Presentation Sisters and Ursuline Sisters. Sr. Clare Slattery was the first headmistress.
In the words of Naomi Turner, formerly Mother Campion and Merici teacher between the years 1959-1968,
“To determine a new direction in any field requires imagination which abandons traditional thinking and courage which will put consequent decisions into operation. When the leaders of six religious congregations accepted Archbishop O’Brien’s challenge to collaborate in stafingf the new College, they possessed both imagination and courage.”
For over 65 years, we, as a College and a community, have been and will continue to be, shaped by the empowering charism of St Angela Merici and that of our six founding orders. We embrace how our Sisters have shaped our past, present and future. We remember our patron saint, Angela Merici, a courageous woman who influenced the religious society of her time and educated young women. Her legacy goes on today; she is still teaching us. She is a role model and example of how one individual, with courage and conviction, can inspire women and men to dedicate their lives in service of God and others in our community.
When looking into our past timeline, it is interesting to note discussions held between the Founding Orders and the Archbishop about “what should we be named”. Some of the names discussed were St Patricks, Our Lady of Lourdes, Trinity, and so on. To stop any controversy, they decided to go with Canberra Catholic Girls High School. There was even disagreement over whether it was to be a High School or a College.
It was actually not a popular choice and received lots of criticism from the local church papers at the time for not having any connection to a Saint. But this was difficult given that six different groups of nuns, who had a connection with a different saint or vision or charism – it was not believed that they would be able to agree and they didn’t want to put one order of nuns as being more important than another. But the names continued to change and evolve with time.
When Catholic Girls High School Griffith (now St. Clare’s College) opened it was necessary to drop the “Canberra” from the title and add “Braddon:, then boys came along for a few years and so they had to remove “Girls” to be named Braddon Catholic High School and then when they left, the “Girls” was added back in.
Finally in 1983, celebrating the Jubilee Year and the appointment of the first lay (non-religious principal), Merici College was named and remains unchanged today.
Thank you everyone for celebrating this very special occasion tonight. We have so many current families and students, from Year 7 through to Year 12. It has been wonderful reconnecting with students from the Class of 2023 who are our newest members of our Alumni. And, special thanks and acknowlegement to ex-students from the 1960s through to, 1985, 1987, 1996, 2012, 2015 and 2023, as well as our much loved former staff members.
I wish you all a wonderful evening filled with lots of happiness and fun.
Anna Masters
Principal
1 June 2024
