Welcome to the website of
the Sisters of St Joseph, Whanganui

We are a group of Catholic women religious living and working in the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand in partnership with many others who share a common Josephite vision.  Our first foundation and heart-place is in the city of Whanganui on the Whanganui River.

Our story begins in Adelaide, South Australia in the 1860’s. An English priest, Julian Tenison Woods, shared his vision with a young Australian of Scottish descent, Mary MacKillop.    
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In 1880 Sisters Hyacinth, Joseph, Clare and Teresa left Perthville to begin the New Zealand branch in Whanganui in the central North Island.
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