Catholic Church In Australia By rparker26 Jan 1, 1788 First Fleet arrived The first fleet arrived containing mostly irish convicts. Only 10% were catholic Jan 1, 1800 First Priests arrived in Australia The first priests arrived in Australia (convicts) Jan 1, 1803 James Dixon granted the right to perform mass Jan 1, 1820 Father John Joseph Therry and Phillip Connolly appointed priests Appointed by the government in London Jan 1, 1833 there were ten catholic schools in Australia Feb 2, 1872 State aid was removed from education Jan 1, 1930 Australian priests outnumbered Irish priests Jan 1, 1950 Baby boomers increased Catholics population significantly.
