Mary MacKillop, the Australian nun who was excommunicated by the Church for exposing paedophile priest ... in 1871!!!

Mary MacKillop, the nun who will soon be Australia's first saint, was excommunicated by the Catholic Church because she discovered children were being abused by a priest and went public, the ABC's Compass program can reveal.

In 1871, after only four years as a nun, she was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church and turned out onto the street with no money and nowhere to go.

MacKillop's cause for sainthood began in 1925 and has had the tireless backing of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the order she founded.

On October 17, MacKillop's canonisation by Pope Benedict XVI will be a momentous occasion for Australia's 5 million Roman Catholics. More...

Don't miss:

1. Two 80-year-old nuns in France flee convent...
2. Our dead son has miraculous powers, say Aussie parents...
3. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, an angel from Hell...
4. St Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower ...
5. The Pope, the Virgin Mary, the priest and the pregnant nun!!!
6. Child abuse widespread in Belgian church...