-
First Catholics arrive with First Fleet
The first fleet arrives with 10% of convicts being Catholic. Half of these were of Irish heritage -
Period: to
Catholic Church in Australia
-
First priests arrive
The First priests arrive to Australia as convicts. James Dixon was the first priest, who had conditional freedom to perform Mass but lost privilege after the Castle Hill rebellion. -
Chaplins appointed by English Government and First Bishop
Father John Joesph Therry & Philip Connolly - chaplains appointed by Government in London 1820. John Bede Polding was the first Bishop. -
Catholic Schools
By 1833, there were 10 Catholic schools in the country. -
1833 - end of 1860's
The Catholic schools had some government assistance -
Sisters
By 1880 there were a total of 815 sisters from all orders -
1872 - 1893
All states passed Education Acts removing state aid. With no money to pay staff, the bishops appealed to religious orders in Ireland and other European countries/nuns/sisters and brothers -
Irish clergy outnumbered by Australian born Priests
Polding's priests were mainly Irish - and there was conflicts between Polding's visions and their ideas. The Irish clergy dominated Australian Catholic life until very recently. In the 1930's Australian born priests outnumbered them. -
Baby Boomers
In the 1950's the amount of Catholics increased and contraception was seen as againts Gods design. The number of brothers, nuns and priests increased aswell. -
Catholics
Catholics improved their socio-economic status. High level of attendance at mass. Many Catholic's belonged to catholic groups. Devotion to the rosary was common -
1960's - 1970's
Influx of non-English speaking immigrants including one million plus Catholics from Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Germany, Croatia Hungary and numerous other places. Ideas and practices came into conflict with Irish backgrounds. Priests from origins recruited and new schools/churches built.