WelCom February/March 2025
Annette Scullion
WelCom recently spoke with Deacon Rebecca Packer Tumu Whakarae | co-Chief Executive for the Sisters of Compassion Group – almost a year into her role – about her journey that brought her to the special place above the hills of Island Bay, built on the legacy of Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert, and about her vision for the future of the Compassion Centre.
Rebecca began by saying: ‘I wanted to start by thanking those who have worked to make WelCom possible – writers, editors, advertisers and readers. I’ve personally found it a helpful and enjoyable way to learn more about the events and priorities across the Catholic community in the Wellington and Palmerston North dioceses. And it has been wonderful to see support for, and contributions from, our Compassion community in many editions of the newspaper.’
Rebecca’s whakapapa is to Ngāti Kahungunu in Nuhaka through her father’s side, with a strong Scottish and German Jewish connection. On her mother’s side, she is descended from Scottish and English settlers and missionaries. ‘I grew up in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty as the oldest of four children. I’m a lawyer by training. I’m married to Matthew and we have both recently been ordained as priests in the Anglican Church in Wellington,’ she explains.
Before stepping into the role with the Sisters of Compassion, Rebecca worked at Crown Law, specialising in public law. She started in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks to help oversee the government response to the inquiry that followed.
Before this, she spent some time overseas, studying in the UK, working for the UN in Kenya, and working on policy projects in Westminster, in the area of justice sector reform and re-building trust in institutions after conflict.
Towards the end of her time overseas, Rebecca spent a year as part of an ecumenical community in London dedicated to prayer, study and service. ‘This community – the Community of St Anselm – brought people together from all parts of the world,’ she says, ‘and from different faith traditions. It was set up by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, hosted at Lambeth Palace and overseen by a Catholic Order, Chemin Neuf.
‘This was a hugely formative part of my spiritual life. I discovered the riches of the Ignatian tradition, of contemplative practices and silence, but also the gift of living community, and the dynamic cycle of action and contemplation, prayer and service, taking time out to be filled, to go into the world again, over and over.’
On returning to Wellington six years ago, this deep spiritual experience led Rebecca to the Home of Compassion for the first time.
‘Here, I felt I had discovered a rare and precious treasure. I soon became involved as a Director and later a Trustee.’
In her current role, Rebecca brings her professional background and training, but also a deep faith and commitment to the story and mission of Meri Hohepa Suzanne Aubert and the Sisters of Compassion.
Rebecca and her team want to ensure the Compassion community offers a place of hope and encounter, ‘so the story of Suzanne Aubert can continue to inspire practical, prayerful work today and into the future for the benefit of all of our communities’.
As well as continuing practical service, maintaining a commitment to spiritual nourishment and flourishing, Rebecca’s vision is to further its mission to help grow people of faith and action to embody these commitments into the future – including for young people.
‘Our Lady’s Home of Compassion, being a place of spiritual nourishment, is central to this story. I would like to see it becoming an urban monastery that provides a welcome to pilgrims, including from schools, as well as fostering wider connections across the compassion community.’
Looking ahead, says Rebecca, the Year of Jubilee: Pilgrims of Hope is an opportunity to focus around this priority of the Home of Compassion being a place of spiritual nourishment.
‘We are conscious of the growing need for food and housing, including refugee accommodation. We want to ensure what we are doing is sustainable into the future and we will look for opportunities to grow our mission.’
Partnering with Tangāta Whenua was a key part of Suzanne Aubert’s story. ‘Today partnership remains both a priority and is a work in progress as the organisation continues to foster relationships with iwi groups and others in the community, but also to better embed tikanga, te reo Māori and te ao Māori across our organisation.
‘Suzanne Aubert was an inspirational trailblazer, and her story is as important today as ever – it’s a living story that continues to inspire action in the present. In Suzanne Aubert, we see the practical outworking of the love of Jesus in our New Zealand context. In encountering Mother Aubert and learning about her ministry, many continue to be touched and inspired to partner with the divine in this gospel work of love, care, and practical prayerful service – to serve the many in need around us. This is the work of our evolving Compassion community – a living and active whānau.’