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	Documentary Reveals the Excommunication of Mary Mackillop Radio Australia News September 25, 2010 http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201009/3021828.htm?desktop An Australian television documentary reveals how Mary MacKillop, the soon to be canonised nun, was punished by the Catholic Church for confronting child sexual abuse. On the 17th of October Mary MacKillop will become Australia's first Catholic saint. But a new documentary to be broadcast on the ABC's Compass program ahead of her canonisation, reveals the nun received the church's harshest penalty for trying to expose an alleged paedophile within its ranks. Mary MacKillop was excommunicated for five months by the Bishop of Adelaide in 1871 after the Sisters of St Joseph reported claims of sexual abuse involving Father Patrick Keating at a parish north of Adelaide. The priest was sent back to Ireland where he continued working for the church. The Sisters of St Joseph have issued a statement saying this period in Mary MacKillop's life has been comprehensively documented and commented on in the public domain.
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