Timeline of The Catholic Church in Australia
A timeline of key events in the Church’s history in Australia
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA
1606 Spanish naval captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros calls Vanuatu “La Australia del Spiritu Santo” – Southland of the Holy Spirit
1616 Dutch sea captain Dirk Hartog landed on western coast of Australia
1627 Peter Nuyts sails along eastern shore of the Great Australian Bight
1642 Abel Tasman discovers what is now called Tasmania, but which he called Van Diemen’s Land.
1688 The English pirate William Dampier spends nine weeks on the north-west coast of Australia
1697 William de Vlamingh lands on Western Australian coast
1770 Captain Cook explores Australia’s east coast
1778 Arrival of First Fleet at Sydney Cove
Possibly first Mass was said on Australian soil during this year by Fr. Receveur
1802 Foundation of Christian Brothers by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Ireland
1803 First public Mass said by Fr. Dixon
1808 Rum Rebellion in New South Wales
1813 Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson cross the Blue Mountains
1817 Arrival of Fr. Jeremiah O’Flynn “Prefect-Apostolic of New Holland”
1818 Fr. O’Flynn deported after the British Colonial Office opposes his appointment
1820 Frs. Therry and Conolly, the first official priests arrive
1821 Construction of first Catholic church at Richmond, Tasmania
1823 New South Wales Judicature Act establishes the Legislative Council of NSW
1825 Tasmania established as a separate colony from NSW
1829 Foundation of the Swan River colony
1833 Fr. Ullathorne arrives in Sydney as Vicar-General
1835 Bede Polding becomes Australia’s first Catholic bishop
1836 Fr. Ullathorne publishes book criticising harsh treatment of convicts
Proclamation of the colony of South Australia
1838 Arrival of Caroline Chisholm in Australia
1839 Arrival of Fr. Patrick Geoghegan in Melbourne
1840 Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand
1841 New Zealand becomes a British colony
1842 Beginning of Representative Government in Australia
Appointment of Robert Wilson as first Archbishop of Hobart
1845-70 Period of Maori Wars in New Zealand
John Brady appointed Bishop of Perth
Archbishop Polding complains of injustice to Aborigines at NSW Parliamentary Committee Meeting
1846 Dom Salvado begins New Norcia Abbey in WA
1847 James Alepius Goold becomes first Catholic bishop of Melbourne
1848 The Catholic Church in Australia is divided into provinces and dioceses
1850 Establishment of the University of Sydney
1851 Beginning of the Gold Rush
Victoria becomes a separate colony from New South Wales
Fr. Patrick Dunne celebrates Mass on the goldfields of Ballarat
1852 Abolition of transportation of convicts to Eastern Australia
1853-76 Period of transition to self-government for New Zealand
1852 Fr. Henry Backhaus begins to say Mass in a tent on the goldfields of Bendigo
1853 Establishment of the University of Melbourne
1854 Eureka Stockade, Ballarat
Establishment of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Australia
1855 8 hour a day policy accepted for workers
1857 St. Vincent’s Hospital opens in Sydney
1859 Queensland declared to be a separate colony James Quinn appointed as Bishop of Brisbane
1861 Mercy Sisters arrive in Queensland
First Melbourne Cup Race
Beginning of Gold Rush in New Zealand
1865 St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney destroyed by fire
1866 Mary McKillop and Fr. Julian Tenison Woods found Sisters of St. Joseph
Daniel Murphy appointed second Archbishop of Hobart
1868 Christian Brothers arrive in Melbourne
Re-building of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney begins
1869 Bishops’ Pastoral Statement complains of injustice to Aborigines
1871 Completion of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Ballarat
Timothy O’ Mahoney appointed first bishop of Armidale
1872-85 Colonial governments end state-aid to Church schools
Marist Brothers open their own school at the Rocks, Sydney
1874 University of Adelaide established
Diocese of Sandhurst established and Rev. Martin Crane O.S.A. appointed as Bishop
Diocese of Ballarat established and Rev. Michael O’Connor appointed as Bishop
1877 Roger Vaughan O.S.B becomes Archbishop of Sydney
1878 Arrival of the Jesuits in Sydney
1879 Marist Brothers found St. Joseph’s, Hunters Hill
Fr. E. Torreggiani O.F.M. appointed second bishop of Armidale
1880 Death of Ned Kelly
1881 First permanent St. Vincent de Paul Society established in Australia
1882 Fr. Streele S.J. named Apostolic Administrator of what is now the Diocese of Darwin
1882-1906 Period of Jesuit missions in the Northern Territory
1884 Queensland declared a protectorate over British New Guinea (now Papua)
Patrick Francis Moran appointed Archbishop of Sydney
1885 Archbishop Moran made Cardinal
1889 Opening of St. Patrick’s Seminary, Manly
1890 University of Tasmania established
1891 Foundation of the Australian Labor Party in Barcaldine, Queensland
1891-93 Economic Depression follows 1888 drought
1892 Gold discovered at Kalgoorlie
1893 St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne opened, run by Sisters of Charity
1895 Banjo Paterson writes the words to “Waltzing Matilda”
1897 French Missionaries of the Sacred Heart arrive in Australia
Consecration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne
1901 Federation of Australian States
1906 Beginning of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart missions in the Northern Territory
1907 New Zealand declared a dominion of the British Empire
1909 Death of Mary McKillop
Foundation of the University of Queensland
1911 Foundation of the University of Western Australia
1913 Arrival of Archbishop Daniel Mannix in Melbourne
1914 Beginning of First World War
1915 Australian and New Zealand troops land at Gallipoli (Turkey)
1916 Defeat of First Conscription Referendum
Establishment of the Catholic Women’s League
1917 Defeat of Second Conscription Referendum
James Duhig becomes Archbishop of Brisbane
1918 Newman College Melbourne University opened
1922 Foundation of the Knights of the Southern Cross
1923 Archbishop Mannix founds Corpus Christi College
1924 Establishment of the Central Catholic Library in Melbourne
1928 International Eucharistic Congress, Sydney
1930 Phar Lap wins the Melbourne Cup
1931 Formation of the Campion Society at Melbourne University
First attack on Nazism in the Melbourne Catholic newspaper The Advocate
1932 Sydney Harbour Bridge completed
1934 National Eucharistic Congress, Melbourne
1936 Monsignor Francois-Xavier Gsell of Darwin awarded the Order of the British Empire
1938 Monsignor Francois-Xavier Gsell appointed as Bishop of Darwin
1939 Beginning of World War II
Robert Menzies becomes Prime Minister of Australia
St. Patrick’s Cathedral Melbourne completed
1940 Norman Thomas Gilroy becomes Archbishop of Sydney
1941 “Rats of Tobruk” seize control of Syria
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour
1942 Japanese invasion of New Guinea, over 100 Catholics martyred during Japanese occupation for continuing to catechise.
1944 Formation of the “Movement” by Bob Santamaria
James McAuley and Harold Stewart publish the ‘Ern Malley” poems
Formation of the Liberal Party by Sir Robert Menzies
1945 Ben Chifley, Australian Prime Minister
End of World War II
Beginning of arrival of European immigrants
1946 Archbishop Gilroy becomes first Australian Cardinal
1948/9 Communists in trade union movement cause industrial unrest
1950 Prime Minister Menzies attempts to ban Communist Party but move declared unconstitutional by the High Court
Bishop Gsell of Darwin awarded the Cross of the L‚gion d’Honneur by the French government
1951 Referendum to ban the Communist Party of Australia defeated
1954 The “Petrov Affair”
1955 Labor Party Split
1956 Olympic Games, Melbourne
1957 Formation of the Democratic Labor Party
1958 Arrival of Ivan Prasko, first Bishop for Ukrainian Catholics
1960 Melbourne doctors John and Evelyn Billings pioneer Natural Family Planning research
1962 Resumption of State Aid to Catholic schools
1963 Death of Archbishop Mannix
1964 James McAuley publishes “Captain Quiros”
1965 Australian troops sent to Vietnam
1966 Menzies retires as Prime Minister
1967 Archbishop James Robert Knox appointed Archbishop of Melbourne
1970 Paul VI visits Australia, consecrates first Papuan-born Bishop
1972 Liberalisation of anti-abortion legislation
1973 Paul VI establishes Maronite diocese in Australia
International Eucharistic Congress Melbourne
1974 Appointment of Dr Thomas Francis Little Archbishop of Melbourne
1975 Whitlam Labor government passes “no-fault” divorce legislation
Whitlam Labor government dismissed by Governor General Sir John Kerr
1986 John Paul II visits Australia
1987 John Paul II establishes a Melkite diocese in Australia
1991 Foundation of the Australian Catholic University
1992 Foundation of St. John Vianney Seminary, Wagga Wagga
1995 John Paul II visits Australia for Beatification of Mary McKillop
John Paul II visits Papua New Guinea for Beatification of Peter Turot, martyr during the Japanese occupation
1996 Appointment of Dr. George Pell as Archbishop of Melbourne
St Francis Cathedral Adelaide completed
1997 Euthanasia legislation of Northern Territory defeated by Andrews Bill
1998 Death of Bob Santamaria
1999 Major General Peter Cosgrove leads deployment of Australian troops to East Timor
Senator Brian Harradine brokers Native Title Agreement
2000 Opening of Corpus Christi seminary, Carlton
Opening of Catholic Theological College, East Melbourne by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago
St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney completed
© Tracey Rowland 2000