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Sydney's first bishop, John Bede Polding OSB, was born in Liverpool, England, on 18 October 1794. At the age of nine he was sent to school at the Benedictine Monastery of St. Gregory
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He made his vows at the age of 12, and was ordained into the Priesthood at 25.
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and the Holy See decided Polding was the man they needed. He was proclaimed the first Bishop of New South Wales on 29 June 1834,
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Polding arrived in Sydney on September 13, 1835.
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giving Mass and guiding 7000 prisoners in their retreats between 1836 and 1841.
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He made a good impression, and in 1842 was made the vicar Apostolic,
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Polding returned to Australia in 1843 to be greeted with anger and suspicion.
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in 1857 Polding founded the first Australian religious community, The Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict.