Christina Gangemi is travelling to the Vatican with a group of 70 students to see the canonisation ceremony of Mary MacKillop, one of six saints being canonised on October 17.

Christina, who attends Sacred Heart Girls College in Oakleigh, will also visit places in Rome which were important to Mary MacKillop's work in Australia, and have an audience with the Pope.

The year 10 student said she was looking forward to being a part of such a big event.

"I'm excited just to celebrate and be a part of such an incredible moment in history.

"We've been learning about how she set up the Sisters of St Joseph in Adelaide and basically taught everyone for free, and her whole life and its challenges.

"She was doing things that not necessarily a lot of people were doing at the time, teaching the poor, especially, and giving everyone an opportunity."

Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1886, and founded a number of schools throughout Australia which were open to anyone.

In 1871 she was excommunicated after clashing over her program with an Adelaide bishop, but was accepted back into the church five months later.

Christina said she took inspiration from Mary MacKillop's work.

"She understood that that's what God wanted her to do, going through those difficult times. That was her journey, in a way."

Sacred Heart's religious education teacher and year 12 co-ordinator, Elizabeth Matheson, who is also going on the trip, said Mary

MacKillop was an important figure for her students.

"We very much look at social justice at the college and she epitomises social justice."

Mrs Matheson said having an Australian saint would make a big change to the way Australian Catholics practised.

"Having our first saint will change the way we pray and she'll become more significant in the way we practise in this country. In the past, we've prayed to overseas saints."