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1788:Irish Catholics
In 1788, a handful of convicts that were on the First Fleet were actually catholic. They were mostly Irish, but they were not allowed to practice their religion. -
1803:The First Priest
In 1803,Fr James Dixon became the 1st priest that was granted permission to open up a church on a piece of land that he was granted. 10 months later, because of a certain war,Fr James Dixon had those privileges taken away from him -
1817 Fr Jeremiah O'Flynn
In 1817,Fr Jeremiah O'Flynn came to Australia to minister catholics.He also came to family homes to celebrate and practice the catholic faith.He had come here as a convict. However, he practiced the catholic faith without permission. He was deported after eighteen months, but left his blessing in the homes with catholic families -
1820: The First Allowed Preists
In 1820,the first two priests that were granted permission to celebrate the catholic faith. These two men's names were Fr John Therry and Fr Phillip Conolly. Fr John scored a land grant from Governor Macquarie to build the first ever catholic church in Australia. In 1821 Fr Therry blessed a foundation stone created by Governor Macquarie. This building would soon become St Mary's Cathedral. Father Therry then organised for many churches to be built.. -
1835:John Bede Polding
John Bede Polding was the first ever catholic bishop in Australia.He arrived in Australia in 1835. When he arrived, he organised the growing colony into dioceses.
