Unconventional women — a hidden story of nuns

Big Ideas

Why did acclaimed actor Melissa Jaffer step away from the spotlight and the swinging 60s to enter a strict cloister of Australian nuns for 4 years? Sister Marian McClelland is the last of two surviving members of the same Australian order of contemplative nuns. They became nuns at a time of radical change for women worldwide and for the Catholic Church and have extraordinary stories to tell about how faith shaped their sense of identity and purpose. They join Natasha Mitchell with oral historian Dr Sarah Gilbert, author of Unconventional Women: The story of the last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia.

This event was organised by Melbourne University Press and hosted at the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne.

Speakers:

Dr Sarah GilbertWriter, researcher, producer, and oral historianAuthor, Unconventional Women: The story of the last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia (Melbourne University Press, 2024)

Sister Marian McClellandOrder of the Blessed Sacrament sisters in Australia

Melissa JafferAustralian actor of stage and screen

Further information:

Sisters in arms: Catholic nuns through two millenniaJo Ann Kay McNamaraHarvard University Press, 1998