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An Australian Sister of the Sacred Heart, Sr Philomene Tiernan, was one of the 298 people killed in an airliner allegedly shot down over the Ukraine on July 17.
Both sides in Ukraine’s civil conflict – the Government and pro-Russian separatists – have accused each other of downing Malaysia Airlines MH17 with a missile.
Sr Tiernan was a much-loved and respected staff member at Kincoppal-Rose Bay School of the Sacred Heart in east Sydney.
She was associated with the school for more than three decades.
Kincoppal principal Hilary Johnston-Croke said Sr Tiernan “very much brought love in all her interactions with everybody”.
“We are devastated by the loss of such a wonderfully kind, wise and compassionate woman who was greatly loved by us all. She was great friend and mentor to me personally,” Mrs Johnston-Croke said.
Monsignor Tony Doherty, parish priest at Rose Bay, knew Sr Tiernan for 30 years.
“The first thing you think about her is an incredibly gentle personality . . . one of those blithe gentle spirits that you never touch without coming away a little bit enriched,” he told local radio.
Australian cabinet minister Malcolm Turnbull tweeted that his wife and daughter had been inspired by Sr Tiernan.
Hundreds of students and teachers attended an assembly at the school’s Rose Bay campus on July 18 to talk about the sister.
Teary colleagues put their arms around each other and hugged as they walked out of afternoon assembly.
A number of teachers were seen consoling students who had just heard the tragic news.
Sr Tiernan was returning home after attending a conference in Britain, a theology course in Ireland and a spiritual retreat in Burgundy, France.
She had also used the trip to visit St Francis Xavier Church in Paris where St Madeleine Sophie Barat, the founder of her order, is buried.
The day before she died, she called Mrs Johnston-Croke and told her about her European visit.
“She was in good space,” the principal said.
Pope Francis learnt “with dismay” of the downing of the airliner.
In a statement, Francis urged “all parties in the conflict to seek peace and solutions through dialogue, in order to avoid further loss of innocent human lives”.
The statement also said he was praying for those who died and for their families.
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