Contemporary Years

White Australia Policy

1901

The Immigration Restriction Bill, which enacted the white Australia policy, was initiated in the House of Representatives by Prime Minister Edmund Barton on 5 June 1901, nine sitting days after the Duke of York had opened the Australian Parliament on 9 May 1901.

Fr John Brosnan

1919

From his birth of Irish parents on 12th April, 1919, at Keilambete near Terang, in a small community where there were few Catholics, John Brosnan learned to reach out to the wider community. He went to the State School at Cudgee, St Mary’s Christian Brothers at Geelong, before spending his last four years at Assumption College, Kilmore.

Kathleen Mary Egan

1931

Kathleen Mary Egan was a Dominican Sister and a educationist with a big heart. In 1931 after successfully teaching in NSW she was appointed to the ‘ Deaf & Dumb ’ institute in Newcastle, NSW, whereby she committed herself to the their educational needs.

Elizabeth Durack

1943

Elizabeth Durack was a Australian Artist. Painter, essayist, cultural ambassador and a great woman. She published and wrote 9 books with her first book being ‘ The Way Of The Whirlwind ’ in 1943 . She was also a pioneer.

Caritas in Australia

1962

Caritas began In Australia in 1962 as the Catholic Church Relief Fund ( CCRF ). In 1996the agency became Caritas Australia. The word Caritas come from Latin, meaning love and compassion. Caritas helps all aged people and there mission is to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

Fr Frank Fletcher

1980

Fr Frank raised awareness of Aboriginal spirituality in the wider community and its place in Christianity. His role as a priest, teacher, theologian, philosopher, activist, poet, uncle and brother was always played with humility. He opened the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in 1980.

Native Title

1982

Native title is the recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have rights and interests to land and waters according to their traditional law and customs as set out in Australian Law. Native Title is governed by the Native Title Act 1993.

Edward Bede Clancy

1983

Edward Bede Clancy AC (13 December 1923 – 3 August 2014) was an Australian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. He was the seventh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney from 1983 to 2001. He was made Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Vallicella in 1988.

Catholicism

1986

In 1986, Catholicism overtook Anglicanism as the largest Christian and overall religious group.

Eddie Mabo

1992

Eddie Mabo was an Indigenous Australian man who fought against Terra Nullius in Australia, creating a high court case which gave Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders claim to the land of Australia as it always was their land. Sadly, Mr Mabo died from cancer in the lungs and chest before the case was approved.

Wik People

1997

The Wik People arose out of two native title claims in Queensland in 1997 by the Wik peoples and the Thayorre people. The claims were over large areas which included a number of pastoral leases, and two special mining leases granted under ratified State Government agreements. The claimants asserted that their native title rights had survived the grant of the pastoral leases, and that the mining leases were invalid. They claimed Mabo.

World Youth Day (2008)

2008

World Youth Day is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church. World Youth Day was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. In 2008 World Youth Day was held for the first time in Australia. Leading from 15th of July and ending on the 20th of July.

Vatican II

3434

Second Vatican Council, also called Vatican II, (1962–65), 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, announced by Pope John XXIII on January 25, 1959, as a means of spiritual renewal for the church and as an occasion for Christians separated from Rome to join in a search for Christian unity.