He was a French speaking Irishman and one of Perth Archdiocese’s first missionary pioneers but why was he such a problem for Church colleagues? Perth historian, ODHRAN O’BRIEN contex-tualises the life of Bishop John Brady in Perth
Bishop John Brady holds a unique place in history as the first resident Bishop of Western Australia. Thanks to Brady, the Catholic community had a resident Bishop before any of the other Christian Churches in Western Australia. It was Brady who convinced Pope Gregory XVI and Vatican officials to establish the Perth diocese in 1845. He also recruited the first Catholic missionaries for the new diocese, two of whom were Rosendo Salvado and José Serra, co-founders of the New Norcia Benedictine Monastery. Yet in spite of the enormity of what Brady achieved, he remains a much debated historical figure: why? Well, there are many reasons. Brady was forced to transfer leadership of the diocese to José Serra in 1852 as his administration had been compromised by a lack of government funding and some strategic mistakes within his missionary plan.
Brady’s association with Perth began when Archbishop Polding appointed him Vicar General of Western Australia during 1843. He arrived in Fremantle on 8 December 1843 and immediately began organising the construction of a church which began on 27 December 1844. Brady was so eager to begin large scale evangelisation of the colony’s European and Aboriginal population that by 11 February he had set sail for Europe to recruit missionaries and collect funds.
While in Europe, Brady went to Rome. Conscious of the distance between Sydney and Perth, Brady advised Vatican officials that the Sydney Archdiocese, which covered most of Australia, needed to be divided into smaller dioceses. Polding had already made the Vatican aware of the difficulties associated with the vast size of his Archdiocese during his visit to Rome in 1842. Rome felt his argument was justified and decided to create the Perth diocese. Brady recommended William Ullathorne for the position. However, Ullathorne declined and the position was offered to Brady. Following, Brady returned to Perth, having successfully recruited 28 missionaries. A small group remained in Perth and Fremantle to cater for the European settlers. The rest were sent to isolated parts of the colony to establish missions to the Aborigines. Very quickly, Brady’s missionary plan began to show flaws.
The money Brady had collected from Europe was rapidly consumed and many of his missionaries were left stranded without resources or means of survival. Initially, Brady managed to obtain credit from local merchants. However, with a group of 28 missionaries, his debt quickly reached a level at which no one would lend him more money. There were three fundamental mistakes that Brady had made. He had expected support from the Colonial Government and he misjudged the number of European Catholic settlers and their capacity to support a missionary group. When the first colonial census was conducted in 1848, the entire population of the Colony was 4,622, with Catholics numbering 337. When Brady started to experience financial difficulties in 1846, the Catholic population would have been even smaller.
While Brady continued to experience difficulties in Perth, Archbishop Polding made his way to Rome. Polding had not been pleased that the Perth diocese was created without his consultation. He was aware that Brady was having difficulties and convinced Rome to annex part of Perth diocese to create a new diocese, Port Victoria. Near modern day Darwin, the new diocese was to be placed under the control of José Serra. Serra, like Polding, was a Benedictine and therefore the Archbishop’s preferred choice for Port Victoria. Unaware of events in Rome, Brady sent Serra to the Vatican to plead for financial assistance. Brady became infuriated when he discovered that upon arrival in Rome, Serra was made a Bishop. Serra immediately started a tour of Europe fundraising for his new diocese.
As Serra travelled Europe on 20 February 1848, Rome reconsidered its decision about his appointment to Port Victoria. Serra’s appointment was transferred to Perth where he was made Coadjutor Bishop with control over all the diocese’s assets and revenue. Now as joint Bishop of Perth, Serra returned to the diocese and very soon clashed with Brady. Serra had not done what Brady had requested and, further, now had control over all of the diocese’s finances. Brady refused to accept Serra’s promotion and went to Rome to plead his case. At this time, revolution was spreading through the Papal States. The Pope and many senior Vatican Cardinals fled from Rome, only returning just before Brady’s arrival. Impatient and tired of bureaucratic chaos in Rome, Brady did not wait for an answer to his plea, but returned to Perth. A public battle in the courts and newspapers ensued between Brady and Serra for control of the diocese. In the end, Polding travelled to Perth from Sydney and forced Brady to resign. Bishop Brady was completely resistant to resigning the diocese he had founded. He felt that his error of judgement did not deserve the treatment he received.
Bishop Serra was able to quite quickly rectify the diocese’s finances. The Colonial Government began to make contributions to Catholic schools and towards some of the Catholic clergy’s wages such as the prison chaplain. The Catholic population began to grow at a faster rate with the transportation of convicts and single women from the poor parishes in Ireland and England. Brady had been forced to resign just when the prospects of the Catholic Church began to change. The Catholic population continued to grow through the colonial era. By 1870, the year before Brady died, it peaked at just under 30 per cent of the colonial population.
Bishop Brady was a missionary, not a man well versed in financial matters. As he left the colony, he spent the money which he had been given by Serra to pay for his fare back to Europe and that of four families from Perth.
Once again, he was penniless and he showed his disinterest in money. He retired to Ireland where he assisted other Bishops in their pastoral duties. He refused to relinquish his title as Bishop of Perth. On an official level, when he died in Amelie-Les-Bains during 1871, he was still in office. Until his death, Brady remained at heart the Bishop of Perth.
As Brady’s remains are returned to Perth this year and reinterred in St Mary’s, it will be recognition by his successor Archbishop Barry Hickey of the sacrifices that Brady made in the process of establishing the Perth diocese. The Archbishop will be returning his forebear, Bishop Brady, to Perth to rest eternally among his people.