Carmelite Monastery Coming to New South Wales, Australia

As a Carmelite Tertiary, I'm always excited by news of a new foundation, even if these Nuns are of the "breakaway" Order of St Teresa of Ávila & St John of the Cross.

From Aleteia

By Christine Rousselle

Groundbreaking on the Discalced Carmelite monastery in New South Wales will be on January 10. The nuns arrived in Australia in 2019 from Pittsburgh.

ardinal Mykola Bychok of Sydney and Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green of Wilcannia-Forbes will preside over the groundbreaking of a new monastery for an order of Discalced Carmelite nuns on January 10, as the order officially establishes a presence in the town of Mathoura, New South Wales, Australia.

The Discalced Carmelites arrived in Mathoura in 2019, and were originally from the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

In 2024, the community was granted "autonomous status," and is now known as the "Carmel of Elijah." The 12 Carmelite nuns are currently living in a farmhouse, said their website.

The Carmelites live an entirely cloistered life and do not leave their community. With permission from the bishop, the Carmel of Elijah worships in the extraordinary form of the Mass and Divine Office. The primary mission of the order is to pray for the Church and for the world, said the order's website.

The monastery will be built in Mathoura, New South Wales.

Carmel of Elijah

The monastery will be built with "sustainable and long-lasting construction materials," said the order, and "will not only be a fitting reflection of the simple eremitical life of the Sisters but will also witness to God’s presence for hundreds of years to come."

In 2024, the community welcomed its first member from Australia.

Carmelites are a "powerhouse"

The Carmelites were welcomed in the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes when they arrived in 2019, and Macbeth-Green told The Catholic Weekly, an Australian Catholic newspaper, that he had been hoping to get a contemplative, cloistered group of nuns in his diocese for a while.

Contemplative religious, said Macbeth-Green at the time, "are the powerhouse of any diocese, in their prayer and their witness."

"They are the heart of the church. Because ours is a rural and remote diocese, the nuns will be a great source of consolation for clergy and our people.” 

The Discalced Carmelites are one branch of Carmelites, a religious order founded in the 12th century. The term "Discalced" translates to "shoeless," and refers to the fact that members of the order wear only sandals or go barefoot.