THE CHURCH IN VICTORIA

New Zealand Tablet, 2 June 1910, Page 873

THE CHURCH IN VICTORIA

Preaching in St. Patrick's Cathedral on the feast of Pentecost his Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne said that on Pentecost Sunday, . May 19, 1839, that is seventy-one years ago, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered for the first time in Melbourne. It was offered by the- only priest in the Port Phillip settlement, as the district was then called. It was offered in an unroofed store at the corner of Elizabeth and Little Collins street, where the Colonial Bank now stands. The priest who offered the first Mass, and planted the first grain of spiritual mustard seed was the Rev. Patrick Bonaventure Geoghegan, who built and ministered in St. Francis' Church till his consecration as .Bishop of Adelaide in 1859. Melbourne was then, and for nine years afterwards, a part of the ecclesiastical Province of Sj/dney. It bad but. one priest, no nuns, no teaching Brothers, no church, no schools, no convent, no presbytery, no religious, educational, or charitable institution of any kind. In order to estimate the significance of this seventyfirst centenary celebration, we have only briefly to compare the present state of things with that which existed on Pentecost Sunday, 1839. For the purposes of comparison we may arrange the terms under four heads: —1, churches and presbyteries; 2, priests, nuns, and Brothers; 3, schools and pupils; 4, charitable institutions. First, under the head of churches, instead of that rented and unroofed store, we have in this diocese 168 churches, in the diocese of Ballarat 140, in Sandhurst 105, in the diocese of Sale 48; total, 461. These churches are all, or nearly all, well placed, well built, and well equipped. Those who went before us showed remarkable foresight and artistic taste in the selection of sites. I need only refer to this Cathedral and to the churches which can be easily seen from its tower —St. Francis' (the mother church), St. Ignatius', Richmond; St. John the Baptist's, Clifton Hill; St. George's, Carlton; St. Michael's, North Melbourne, St. Mary's, West Melbourne. What is true of Melbourne is characteristic of almost all the churches

and presbyteries throughout Victoria. Then, consider the cost £23o,ooo for this Cathedral alone, and for the other cathedrals and churches sums not easily computed. Under the head of priests, nuns, and Brothers, instead of "that one priest in 1839 we have now in this diocese 150 priests, in Ballarat 73, in Sandhurst 40, and in Sale 19; total, 282. We have in this diocese 851 nuns, in Ballarat 221, in Sandhurst 200, and in Sale 65; total, 1337. Of Brothers we have 54, in Ballarat there are 17, in Sandhurst 6; total, 77. In this diocese Ave have 143 schools, inBallarat there are 81, in Sandhurst 51, in Sale 11; total, 286. In these schools between 35,000 and 40,000 children are educated. Finally, in Melbourne-Ave have 14 charitable institutions of various kinds, in Ballarat there are 2, in Sandhurst 1; total, 17. These afford shelter and succor to most kinds of human Avant and misery. Instead of the Catholic population of 2073 seventy years ago Ave have now a total population of 264,189. Is not this a wonderful record of progress and development more-eloquent than words can express? What adds to the wonder is that it has been accomplished by the poorest section of the community, by those who in large numbers had to leave Ireland while the pressure of bad laws and the shadow of a great famine were still on the land. For thirty-five years, too, that section of the community has had to bear the expense of building and maintaining their own schools, while contributing their full share towards the support of the State schools.