Humanitarian and advocate for women’s rights Dr Mary Glowrey’s journey to sainthood has taken a decisive step forward, with the Vatican recognising her “heroic virtues” and naming her Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey on 21 November 2025.
It is the latest milestone in a remarkable path that began in rural Victoria and unfolded across nearly four decades of missionary medical work in India.
Now only two steps away from canonisation, Dr Glowrey stands poised to become a shared saint of two nations: the Australia of her birth and the India of her life’s work.
Dr Glowrey’s cause for sainthood was initiated in India by the Bishop of Guntur, the city where she lived from 1920 until her death in 1957.
The process continues with the support of the Congregation of Jesus Mary Joseph—the religious society she joined shortly after arriving in India.
In Australia, the Mary Glowrey Museum, together with the Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga and the Archdiocese of Melbourne, works to preserve her history and promote her legacy.
If canonised, Church authorities affirm that Dr Glowrey would be honoured as a saint for both India and Australia, reflecting her profound and enduring ties to each country.
Dr Glowrey’s sainthood cause advanced after Pope Leo XIV approved a Vatican decree recognising her heroic virtues, making her only the second Australian to receive the title “Venerable”.
Melbourne Archbishop Peter A Comensoli described the announcement as a moment of “deep joy”, calling her “a proud daughter of Melbourne” and “a trailblazer” among early female doctors.
“Her healing hands, her compassion and her bold spirit were a living sign of God’s tenderness.”
Born in Birregurra, Victoria, in 1887, Dr Glowrey rose to prominence at a time when few women entered medicine. She worked at major Melbourne hospitals, served as the first woman appointed to a hospital residency in Christchurch, and ran a private Collins Street practice. Yet her life took a dramatic turn in 1920 when she left Australia for India—never to return.
Dr Glowery was moved by reports of India’s high infant mortality and became a medical missionary, joining the Society of Jesus Mary Joseph to serve as a nun and doctor in Guntur, now in Andhra Pradesh, where she worked until her death in 1957.
Despite Church laws that then restricted women religious from practising medicine, Dr Glowrey received special papal permission from Pope Pope Benedict XV to work as both a doctor and a sister.
For 37 years, Dr Glowrey treated countless patients, particularly women and children who had little access to healthcare, and oversaw the building of medical facilities and training programmes in India.
One of her greatest legacies is the organisation she founded in 1943 – the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI). Today it is India’s largest non-government healthcare network, caring for more than 21 million patients annually. Her influence continues to shape India’s medical and humanitarian landscape.
In honour of Dr Glowrey’s remarkable contribution to healthcare, St Vincent’s Health Australia and the University of Melbourne have created the Sr Dr Mary Glowrey Scholars Program, which brings CHAI health professionals to Melbourne for advanced training and skills development.
Dr Glowrey’s cause remains active on both continents. With her recognition as Venerable, the Church encourages the faithful to seek her intercession. A confirmed miracle attributed to her would lead to beatification, and a second would open the path to sainthood.
Should that moment come, Dr Glowrey will be celebrated as a saint whose life bridged two worlds – a pioneering Australian doctor who found her vocation in India, and whose compassion continues to resonate across both nations.
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