By Odhran O’Brien
This year, on 9 May, marked 175 years since Perth became a diocese. The anniversary was not formally celebrated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB and his curia wished to recognise this significant event. Odhran O’Brien, Director of the Archdiocesan Archives Office, has compiled a short reflection on the diocese’s foundation, which includes extracts from the missionaries who arrived in Western Australia during 1845.
The Creation of Perth Diocese
Pope Gregory XVI promoted the expansion of the Catholic Church by creating 70 dioceses and other jurisdictions and appointing 195 new missionary bishops. Many clergy and religious who volunteered for these communities were Irish and French. Western Australia’s first Vicar General, Father John Brady, was born in Ireland and trained in France, carrying with him the rich Catholic tradition of both countries.
In 1843, John Bede Polding, Archbishop of Sydney, sent Brady to WA, accompanied by Belgian priest Fr Joosten and Irish Catechist Patrick O’Reilly. At that time, the Archdiocese of Sydney included the western third of Australia. Brady hastily studied the local European settlers and Aboriginal people before leaving for Europe to recruit more missionaries and fundraise.
While in Europe, Brady visited Rome and submitted reports to Gregory XVI suggesting that WA be made a diocese. The Holy Father eventually agreed, and appointed Brady as the first Bishop of Perth. Brady then travelled Europe seeking donations and missionaries and he was clearly charismatic as 28 missionaries volunteer to sail to Fremantle where they arrived in late 1845. The 1848 census shows there was a small population of 4622 settlers, including 337 Catholics.
The Arrival at Perth
Among the missionaries was Léandre Fonteinne, a French Benedictine monk. Fonteinne was awestruck by the Swan River and wrote to Dom Prosper Guéranger, his former abbot at Solesmes Abbey:\
“At 4pm, in the extreme heat, we got into the boat that was to take us to Perth. Nothing could be more picturesque than the banks of the Swan River which comes down from the desert to flow gently into the sea.”
On either side all the way to Perth, there are rocky cliffs which take on a thousand marvellous forms… On all sides a multitude of birds, shocked at no longer finding the solitude that used to be theirs, in those places where only the wild man was witness to their frolic.
The Swan River is twice the size of the Thames. Its waters have a beautiful greenish colour but they are salty all the way to the source during the summer. They do become fresh however in wintertime when the abundance of rain also augments them considerably…
At 4.30pm, we caught side of the city which is about as picturesque to look at as you could imagine. The trees grouped around the white houses make it a delightful sight. Just as soon as our Bishop had glimpsed the seat of his residence, he had Dom Rosendo intone the Litany of Our Lady. After the litany we chanted the Ave Maria Stella, the Magnificat, and the Benedictus.
A great number of persons assembled on the bank greeted us with their threefold cheers. We formally turned around to receive His Lordship as he in turn left the boat and then we made our way up, two by two, in silence to the church, which is situated on arise at about half a league from the riverbank. A few paces before our entry into the church, Dom Rosendo, who was at the head of cortege along with Dom Serra, intoned the Te Deum which we continued inside the church. His Lordship then recited the prayers of thanksgiving and gave his blessing to his new people who seemed joyful.”
The First Church
Among the group of missionaries were the Sisters of Mercy led by Mother Ursula Frayne, the superior, who recorded her impression of the first church in Perth:
“The church – what was it like? Figure to yourself a room about 30 feet long and perhaps about 15 feet in height, door spaces but no doors; windows spaces but no windows; a shingled roof through which the sun, moon and stars could be distinctly seen; no ceiling; rough unplastered walls; the floor a few boards laid loosely on the ground and clattering under one’s feet. A common wooden counter, which some retired shopkeeper had given, served for an altar.”
The New Missions
When Rome established the Diocese of Perth, the vicariate of Port Essington, the British military settlement near modern-day Darwin, and King George Sound, now known as Albany, were attached to the new diocese.
Soon after arriving, Bishop Brady began dispersing missionaries within this vast area to establish new missions to engage with the Aboriginal people. Missionaries were sent to King George Sound, Port Essington and what is now known as New Norcia. The only enduring mission was the Benedictine Monastery at New Norcia, which was founded by Dom Joseph Serra and Rosendo Salvado.
The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy stayed in Perth and established the Convent of the Holy Cross originally on St George’s Terrace. Ursula Frayne recorded impression of the town:
“Our house is within five minutes’ walk of the Church; the road to it, and indeed the whole country is like a beautiful garden. We have two fine gardens, there are olive trees and vines loaded with fruit which will be very soon ripe. It is now mid-summer so that there are not many flowers. The geranium grows in the open air without cultivation and in winter the flower garden is in all its beauty.”
The Sisters opened their first school in January 1846; at the end of the first week they had just five students. Determined for their school to survive, the Sisters visited the surrounding district searching for students and their school became the first permanent school in WA and they educated all denominations.
Legacy
Bishop Brady’s legacy has been obscured by his poor management of the diocese, which led to his early retirement in 1852. However, the foundation of Diocese of Perth, a Catholic education system and Catholic social welfare services remain an enduring legacy of his work.
One-hundred-and-seventy-five years later, the Archdiocese of Perth includes 102 parishes, more than 160 schools, a Catholic university, health and aged-care systems, as well as 22 agencies and a variety of social welfare services.
- F. Knight, The Church in the nineteenth century, London, I.B. Tauris, 2008, 103.
- Léandre Fonteinne to Prosper Guéranger. 13 January 1846 in Peter Gilet (trans), The Correspondence of Leandre Fointeinne, Abbey Press, 2015, 131-145.
- C. Kovesi Killerby, Ursula Frayne: A biography, Fremantle, University of Notre Dame Australia, 1996, 113.
- Denis F. Bourke, History of the Catholic Church in Western Australia, 1829-1979, Perth, Archdiocese of Perth, 1979, 15-23.
- Geraldine Byrne, Valiant Women: Letters from the Foundation Sisters of Mercy in Western Australia, 1845-1849, Melbourne, The Polding Press, 1981, 19-20.
From pages 4 to 6 of Issue 27: Adult Faith Formation in the context of Healing’ of The Record Magazine