Archives are curated spaces, shaped by what institutions choose to preserve. But they also contain fragments of resistance: letters, memos and petitions that speak to the struggles of those who challenged the status quo and documented their dissent.
By Tracy McEwan and Kathleen McPhillips
Earlier this year, we visited the historical archives of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, a Vatican office founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 to oversee Catholic missionary work and evangelisation worldwide. Until 1908, Propaganda Fide, as it was known in Latin, oversaw the Church’s activities in Australia, intervening at will: hearing disputes, issuing judgments and taking decisive action whenever and wherever it deemed necessary.
In the archived Oceania volumes, we found bundles of documents and letters detailing the questions, issues, problems and complaints raised by bishops, clergy and laity in 19th Century Australia. Among the papers, loosely bound in heavy volumes, were letters to and from the pioneer women religious who laboured under often difficult circumstances to build the Australian Church.
Some letters transported us back in time to a different era. However, as we read one particular letter, it felt as if time had stood still. The letter, dated 16 April 1847, is from Rev Henry Gregory OSB, the vicar-general of the Archdiocese of Sydney, to Sister M Xavier Williams, one of the five original Sisters of Charity who had arrived in Sydney in 1838. Responding to accusations of his inappropriate conduct with young Sisters, Gregory begins:
Dear Mrs Williams,
The character of the Church in this Colony must indeed be very low in the estimation of some of its members when the conduct of its highest official is considered such that even women deem it their duty to subject it to investigation. Truly this is a new Era in ecclesiastical discipline when those who St Paul says may not open their mouths in the Church of God, fearlessly ascent the Tribunal of Justice, undertake an office involving responsibility from which Men of the Highest standing in the Church distinguished by their piety & learning shrink with a God inspired dread, privately to sit in judgement upon the actions of one whom they are bound by vow to obey.
We had already read this part of the letter, recorded in Moira O’Sullivan’s history of the Sisters of Charity. However, reading it in full, alongside the accompanying letters, was a stark reminder of how pervasive sexism and misogyny are in the Church. Women who speak out against injustice in the Church, who protest or lodge complaints, often face a range of adverse consequences, from subtle social disapproval to malicious abuse and exclusion.
The letters are unsettling, not only because of what they reveal about the past, but also because of how familiar they feel in the present. In recent years, there has been a wave of revelations about the sexual and spiritual abuse of women religious across the globe. The archive, it turns out, is not just a repository of history; it’s an account of the harm that women religious suffered as well.
Immediately after our visit to the archive, we attended the International Safeguarding Conference 2025 at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Themed ‘Women of Faith, Women of Strength’, delegates explored the harm women experience in the Church and society due to patriarchal attitudes and gender inequalities. We heard accounts from women religious across the world, of the struggles they were enduring, as well as the amazing work they are undertaking.
We then travelled to the University of Regensburg in Germany and joined a gathering of women religious, scholars, activists and journalists for the International Conference: Behind the Veil: Analyzing the Hidden Patterns of Spiritual and Sexual Abuse among Catholic Women Religious. Among those present were women religious from Australia, Africa and Europe, adding to the international scope of the event.
Once again, we heard powerful accounts of the essential work women religious are carrying out, often out of the spotlight and under difficult conditions, while also navigating environments marked by sexism, misogyny and, in some cases, sexual abuse. The resilience and commitment of those gathered, even in the face of systemic barriers, has been instrumental in driving change and holding the Church to account, but there is more to be done.
The letter we found in the archive was written more than 170 years ago, but the abuse of women religious continues today. For us, it was a timely reminder that research is not just about facts, it’s about stories, and whose stories are heard and told.
Global research shows that Catholic women religious have been subjected to sexual violence, including assault, harassment and sex-based discrimination. Yet, the experiences of women in Australia remain largely unknown and undocumented.
Our historical research shows that women religious in Australia have faced violence from the very foundation of the Australian Church. Our current research project, funded by three Australian religious congregations, seeks to better understand the experiences of contemporary women who have been affected by sexual violence and to explore how, together, we can create meaningful change to make the Church a safer place.
By listening to and validating the voices of those who have experienced this violence, we can begin to shape a future Church grounded in dignity, safety and justice. By drawing attention to the existence, nature, and scale of this abuse, we can begin to inform and advocate for change to Church policies and practices.
To find out more about our research, including how you can participate, go to our project webpage or email Dr Kathleen McPhillips or Dr Tracy McEwan at the University of Newcastle, Australia.
About the authors
Dr Tracy McEwan. Image supplied.
Tracy McEwan, PhD is a theologian and sociologist of religion and gender at the University of Newcastle, Australia, and an Honorary Fellow at the Australian Catholic University. Major projects include the podcast Australian Women Preach and the International Survey of Catholic Women, a survey of more than 17,000 Catholic women from 104 countries. Her monograph, Women and the Catholic Church: Negotiating Identity and Agency was published open access with Bloomsbury Academic in March 2025.
Dr Kathleen McPhillips. Image supplied.
Kathleen McPhillips, PhD is a sociologist of religion and gender at the University of Newcastle with expertise in the sociology of child sexual abuse in religious institutions. She attended many public hearings of religious groups at the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2012-2017) and is co-editor of Examining the Past and Shaping the Future: The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Taylor & Francis (with Katie Wright and Shurlee Swain, 2022).
