The Church in Australia

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  • First fleet land in Sydney Cove

  • The first Irish convicts transported to Botany Bay

  • Fr James Dixon and two other priests arrested as part of the 1798 Irish Rebellion are transported to New South Wales as convicts

  • First official public Mass is held under strict Government supervision and is celebrated by prisoner priest, Fr Dixon

  • Castle Hill Rebellion results in Fr Dixon's permit to conduct Mass being withdrawn

  • Fr John Therry and Fr Philip Conolly, Australia's first official priests, arrive in Sydney. Fr Therry opens the first Catholic school in Parramatta and lobbies Governor Macquarie for land on which to build the settlement's first Catholic church

  • Father Conolly leaves for Hobart leaving Fr John Therry the only priest on mainland Australia

  • Fr Therry founds the first Catholic school on Hunter Street, Parramatta

  • Benedictine priest, John Bede Polding is consecrated (ordained as Bishop) in London and appointed Vicar Apostolic with jurisdiction over what is now the Commonwealth of Australia.

  • Bishop Polding takes control of schools and by1836 has 13 primary schools in operation. Seven are for boys, six for girls and all have government support. He lays the foundation stone for a church at Parramatta

  • Five Sisters of Charity arrive in Sydney with a mission to help the poor and disadvantaged in response to a request from Archbishop Polding for a community of sisters in the colony.

  • Archbishop Polding consecrates Fr Francis Murphy as Bishop of Adelaide in the first episcopal conscration to take place in Australia.

  • The Sisters of Charity establish St Vincent's Hospital in the centre of Sydney and offer its services free to all people, but especially to the poor

  • Archbishop Polding dies at Sacred Heart Presbytery in Sydney aged 85. Roger Bede Vaughan becomes Archbishop of Sydney

  • First St Vincent de Paul Society established in Sydney.

  • Formation of the Catholic Teachers' Federation

  • Foundation of the Catholic Immigration Office to welcome and assist new immigrants

  • Rome declares that Australia is no longer a mission country