Academic Staff

Ann-Maree O’Beirne is a Sister of Mercy of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea, living in Bathurst. She is awaiting the conferral of her PhD in Theology, which explores an Ignatian motif in the theology of Karl Rahner, Denis Edwards and Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’. She completed her M.Div at CIS in 2011 with a research paper on a developing theology of land in Australia. Ann-Maree also has Masters degrees in Religious Education and Pastoral Guidance from ACU.

After fifteen years of teaching in secondary schools in Melbourne, Sydney and Dubbo, Ann-Maree joined the Sisters of Mercy in 2000. Since then, she has worked as a pastoral assistant and music coordinator in the Cathedral Parish, has been involved in adult education in parishes across the diocese, and has worked in spiritual direction and retreats.

Ann-Maree was a founding member of Rahamim Ecology Centre in Bathurst, holding several roles in the ministry, and served on the inaugural coordinating committee and first board. She has also been a casual academic at ACU and CIS in recent years, tutoring and lecturing in Theology and Spirituality.

In June 2024, Ann-Maree was invited to participate and present at the UISG Women Religious Theologian’s Symposium in Rome. Her paper was titled “Cultivating Openness to Grace and Hope: Consecrated Celibacy, Sublime Communion and Comprehensive Compassion in Dialogue.” A week later, she participated in the Jesuit’s Ignatian Symposium on the Spiritual Exercises and Ecological Conversion held in Manresa, Spain.

Ann-Maree’s publications include “Eugene Stockton: A Life’s Work: A Gift to the Nation.” The Australasian Catholic Record (2014): 160-177; “Graced Encounters in the Community of Creation: Responding to the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor.” The Way 61, no. 4 (2022): 17-28; “Deep Incarnation as a Radical Call: Ecology, Religious Life and Love.” UISG Bulletin: Walking Together Towards A Regenerated Humanity (2023): 29-36.