Good Samaritan Education – New Church Entity

Origins of Good Samaritan Education

Good Samaritan Education, a new entity within the Australian Catholic Church that will assume canonical responsibility for the Good Samaritan Congregation’s ten colleges, was launched during a liturgy at St Scholastica’s Chapel, Glebe, in Sydney on November 13.

On July 22, 2011, the Sisters of the Good Samaritan received approval from the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, in agreement with the Archbishops and Bishops of Melbourne, Brisbane, Wollongong and Broken Bay – dioceses where the ten Good Samaritan colleges are located – to constitute Good Samaritan Education.

In continuing the mission that Jesus Christ gave to the Church, Good Samaritan Education is called to ensure that In All Things May God Be Glorified – In Omnibus Glorificetur Deus (Rule of Benedict 57:9).

The ten colleges will come under the jurisdiction of Good Samaritan Education on June 1, 2012 following their boards’ annual general meetings.

Charism of Good Samaritan Education

The charism of Good Samaritan Education is centred on the person of Jesus Christ in the communal seeking of God, believing that it is together – not as isolated individuals – that we go to God (Rule of Benedict 72:12), our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love (RB Prologue 49).

Enriched and inspired by the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37) the Rule of Benedict and the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, the mission of Good Samaritan Education is to sustain and nurture communities of learning in the Catholic tradition.

Such faith communities of learning are formed by essential values drawn from the Rule of Benedict: love of neighbour, prayer, stability, conversatio, obedience, discipline, humility, stewardship, hospitality, community, justice and peace.

Philosophy of Education

Good Samaritan schools commit themselves to a vision of Catholic education which:

• draws on the strength of the Good Samaritan-Benedictine tradition;
• is directed to the seeking of God;
• is centred on Jesus Christ and his mission;
• is committed to partnership and to Christian community;
• is committed to participative leadership;
• is responsive to the school community’s cultural context.

Members of Good Samaritan Education

Good Samaritan Education consists of at least 15 members who are responsible for the oversight of the ethos, mission and stewardship of the ten colleges.

The newly appointed members, who were commissioned at the launch of Good Samaritan Education on November 13 are: Pamela Betts, Theresa Creagh (Chair), Gerard Dalton, Elizabeth Delaney SGS, John Driscoll, Maria Kirkwood, Catherine McCahill SGS, Lucy Molony, Ann-Maree Nicholls SGS, Peter Nicholson, Patricia O’Gorman, Virginia Ryan, Catherine Slattery SGS, Stephen Teulan and Graham West.