THE DIOCESE OF BATHURST.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIX, Issue 39, 26 September 1901, Page 3

THE DIOCESE OF BATHURST.

CONSECRATION OF BISHOP DUNNE.

On Sunday, September 8, the Right Rev. Dr. Dunne was consecrated Bishop of Bathurst by his Eminence Cardinal Moran in the presence of a number of prelates and priests from all parts of Australia, and a crowded congregation of the laity. The town of Bathurst was indeed fall of strangers, and the hotels were sorely taxed to accommodate the numbers that arrived by the various trains. The weather was threatening, but no serious rain fell, and as a result the Cathedral was crowded to the doors long before 10 o'clock, the hour appointed for the ceremony. Chairs were placed in front of the pews, surrounding the sanctuary for the specially invited guests, and these were all too insufficient, and it was not long before many were standing in the transepts and the aisles, whilst the body of the beautiful Cathedral was packed almost to suffocation. Every district in the diocese was represented, whilst Bathurst itself could not nearly gain admittance, and large crowds ttood for hours outside the Cathedral whilßt the ceremonies were in proprosp. The interior of the Cathedral was beautifully decorated for the occasion, and the altars looked very lovely under their floral adornment. Never did the Cathedral present a more imposing sight than when the bells began to call aloud their joy just before the consecration. His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney acted as consecrating prelate, and the assisting prelates were the Right Rev. Dr. Doyle (Bishop of Lismore) and the Right Rev. Dr. Gallagher (Bishop of Goulburn), attended by the Rev. Fathers O'Kennedy (Cowra) and Hanley (Molong) respectively. The Rev. Father Dunne (Campbelltown), acted as chaplain to his brother, the new Bishop. The Venerable Arohpriest Sheeby, 0.5.8., V.G. (Ryde) and

the Very Rev. Dean M'Auliffe (Forbes), assisted at the throne with the Very Rev. Dr. O'Haran (Adm. St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydnoy). The Rev. Father M'Oee (Bathurst) was master of the ceremonies, assisted by the Rev. Father Gannon, CM. (St. Stanislaus' College, Bathurst). Other Bishops present were the Right Rev. Dr. Murray, Bishop of Maitland, and the Right Rev. Dr. Dwyer, CoadjutorBishop of Maitland. Among tht clergy present, besides those already enumerated, were the Right Rev. Moosignor O'Donovan (Mudgee), the Right Rev. Monsignor O'Connor (Armidale). the Very Rev. Dean Hegsrty, P.P , V.F, (Kyneton), the Very Rev. Father Treacy, V.G. (Wiloannia), the Very Rev. Father Boyle (Superior of the Vincentians), the Very Rev. Father Treand (Superior of the Missionaries of tV Sacred Heart), the Very Rev. Father Kennedy, O.F.M. (representing the Franciscan Order), the Rev. Father Colgan, SJ. (representing the Jesuits), the Rev. Dr. Lynch, M.S.H. (Sacred Heart Miesionary College, Kensington), the Very Rev. Father Byrne, CM. (St. Stanislaus' College, Bathurst), the Rev. Fathers M. O'Sullivan (Albury), M. Long (Gulgong), Curran, F.G.S. (Technical College, Sydney) Campion (Parkes), Ryan (Adm., Orange), J. Brophy, L.L.D. (Adm. Dubbo), J. O'Dowd (Adm. Bathuret), T. J. Doran (Wellington), Flanagan (Kelso), W. G. Lawler (Sofala), J. P. O'Farrell (Coonamble), E. Gell (Dubbo), and the Rev. Fathers J. T. Slattery, P. Lawless, and P. Quinn, of the Vincentian Order of St. Stanislaus* College, Bathurst. The occasional discourse was preached by the Very Rev. Dean Hegarty, V.F., Kyneton. In the afternoon a luncheon was held in the School of Arts in honor of the consecration of the new Bishop of Bathurst. The catering was in the hands of the Catholic ladies of the town, and the result was greatly to their credit. All the prelates and priests who participated in the consecration ceremonies were present at the lunoheon, whioh was presided over by the Hon. John Meagher, M.L C, who had on his right his Eminence the Cardinal, Mr. Jameß Dalton, Bishop Murray, his Worship the Mayor, Dr. W. P. Bassett, Monsignor O'Connor, Dean Hegarty, and F. B. Kenny ; on his left were seated Bishop Dunne, Mr. James Lonergan, Bishop Gallagher, Mr. W. F. Bassett, Bishop Dwyer, Dr. Treacy, Monsignor O'Donovan, N. C. O'Neill, P.M. Speeches appropriate to the occasion were delivered by the chairman, Cardinal Moran, Bishops Dunne, Murray, Doyle, Monsignor O'Donovan, and others. In the evening the Cathedral was again crowded, when Pontifical Venpers were sun? by the Right Rev, Monsignor O'Donovan, assisted by the Hey. Fathers Hanagan and Gell. His Lordship Dr. Dunne presided at the throne, supported by the Rev. Fathers O'Kreffe (Orangre) and Hanly (Molong). The sermon was preached by the Very Rev. Father Treacy, V.G., (Wilcannia). THE NEW BISHOP. The Right Rev. Dr. r»unne, the third Bishop of Bathnrnt> was born at Mitchelstown, Connly Cork, on June 8, 1845. After spending some years at Mount tfelleray Seminary be entered All Hallows College, Dublin, in 1865. and after a diMtinguixhed course was ordained priest on June 24, 1870. He arrived m Bathurst in 1871, and during his firßt five yeura in the diocese he labored in the Fish River district, in Mudgee, in Bathurst itself, and in Went worth, which then formed part of the Bathurst diocese. In 1876 he received his appointment to Dubbo, being placed in charge of that district. During his 10 years there £3000 were spent on the Church in additions and alterations, and £1000 in the enlargement and maintenance of the boys' school. Being full of faith in the future of the Dubbo district Father Dunne resolved to build a convent which, would be a credit to the Catholic community over which he presided. This was done at a cost of £4500, and a furthor sum of £1200 was expended in the introduction of the Sisters of Mercy and the purchase of a more commodious presbytery. So successful wa« he in all these undertakings that of tbese large sums only £2000 remained to be wiped off when, on the consecration of the late Bishop, Father Dunne was appointed adminintrator of the cathedral parish. Here he labored for ten years, and with such fruit that the cithedral and convent were enlarged and improved, the Brothers' monastery, a very handsome building, erected, and the mother house of the Sisters of St. Joseph at Pertu completed, the whole at a cost of about £11,000. In the meantime, owing to bad seasons and other adverse circumstances, the debts on the Dubbo parish had not been reduced, and utter repeated entreaties on the part of Father Dunne the late Bichop reluctantly co.iaeated in 189(5 to allow him to return to Dubbo to extinguish the liabilities there. Father Dunne found, on hi« return, tuat the district, was no longer the prosperous one he had left ten yrars before He, however, eet to work with a will, and in four years raised £3000, thus wiping off the debt and incidental expenses, enlarged the convent at a cost of £1800, and erected a small presbytery for £250. Father Dunne had already be«n Vicar-General of the parish for many years, and in June last the late Bishop, finding his strength failing, placed the administration of the diocese in bis hands.