Moira Kelly AO, arguably Australia’s greatest humanitarian with a list of awards longer than the arms of the many children she has saved, has stressed the need for hope and Hail Marys in delivering this year’s 4th annual Labouré Lecture.
About 400 parishioners from the St Catherine Labouré Gymea parish packed Doltone House in Sylvania Waters to listen to Kelly, accompanied by her adopted twin daughters Trishna and Krishna, who after a tough start to life, this year celebrated their 18th birthdays.
“Hope, it’s a wonderful word and the only reason we get up in the morning,” she said. “If we over-think things, then most things wouldn’t get done.”
Trishna and Krisha were Bangladeshi cranially-conjoined twins brought to Australia by Kelly, who both survived a miraculous operation at the Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital.
Trishna shared the stage for the first time with Kelly having completed Year 12, while Krishna, who during COVID received a kidney transplant (from Moira) after developing end-stage renal failure, mainly stayed alongside her carer Yasmina McGlone, a full-time volunteer at the Moira Kelly Creating Hope Foundation.
The foundation, based in Victoria, continues Moira’s lifelong mission of helping severely disadvantaged children. It is staffed entirely by volunteers and takes in children from all parts of the globe needing urgent life-saving operations they wouldn’t get in their home countries. Many would be described as hopeless cases.
However, much of Moira’s entertaining presentation centred on her earlier work, including working with her hero, Mother Teresa, now known as St Teresa of Calcutta, and her sisters in Calcutta.
“I thought when Mother Teresa meets me she is going to be so excited. I had all these ideas for her that she hadn’t thought of yet,” she said.
“I knocked on the door and, well, she wasn’t even there to meet me!”
She loved her time there and only reason she hadn’t become a sister herself was that she “could take all those vows, but I couldn’t take the vow of obedience.”
Over four decades the self-described “nobody from Melbourne” has saved children’s lives in the Bronx, Bosnia, Romania, Albania, Yugoslavia, and other war-torn areas by arranging transport and visas to take them to countries that provide adequate hospitalisation.
“There was a war going on in Yugoslavia so I thought I might pop in there for a while,” Moira said.
“Who could have thought that someone like me could send a little child with his mother to another country, get a visa and organise an operation.
“I thought you would have to be someone with lots of money or with lots of experience or someone very special.
“I didn’t fit into any of these categories.
“But I was saying long before Nike – just do it.”
In this, the church’s Jubilee Year Of Hope, Moira told stories accompanied with a video presentation of how lives of children were saved, often at the 11th hour, often when there was “nothing left in the tank,” apart from hope and prayer.
They included Dennis from Albania who was at death’s door when he landed in Australia.
“He was the sickest child in the hospital and when they took him away for the operation he looked at me and asked with tears in his eyes: ‘Aunty Moira, am I going to wake up?’
Dennis survived the operation but, as the doctor said, he wasn’t out of the woods and was in for a rocky night.
Moira spoke of a “sixth sense”, which she described as the Holy Spirit sending her a message that Dennis needed more immediate attention again in the hospital. After calling a nurse to check on him, another 20 medical staff were then rushed to Dennis’ bedside.
“All I had left were Hail Marys,” and she then did a rendition of her loudest, fastest, most desperate and angriest Hail Mary surely ever prayed.
Dennis eventually recovered and Moira was able to take him back home to Albania for an emotional reunion with his family.
The hour-long lecture was at times tearful, often humorous, always enthralling.
In 2001, Moira was awarded the Order of Australia for her humanitarian service to both the Australian and international communities, as well as the Prime Minister’s Award for outstanding community service.
In 2012, she received the Victorian of the Year award. There have been a host of others.
In closing, Moira told the audience, “keep up this wonderful spirit and the passion in this lovely parish. I feel so honoured to be part of this room tonight.”
Gymea parish priest Fr Greg Morgan reciprocated in his vote of thanks, saying, “simply having you present Moira is like having hope amongst us,” before presenting her with a donation to the foundation.
The lecture is held in conjunction with the St Catherine Labouré, Gymea, parish dinner, this year held on November 28, the feast day of the saint.
Also in attendance were Bishop Richard Umbers, as well as Catholic Weekly columnist and director, public affairs and engagement for the Archdiocese of Sydney, Monica Doumit.
Previous guest speakers have been Danny and Leila Abdallah, journalist Greg Sheridan and scientist Dr Adi Patterson.
