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Tasmania - Organisation

Catholic Church (1821 - )

  • St Mary's Cathedral

    St Mary's Cathedral, 1900?, courtesy of Tasmanian Images: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office.
    Details

From
1821
Categories
Church
Website
http://www.catholic.org.au/

The Catholic Church, a worldwide Christian organisation led by the Pope, arrived in Tasmania in 1821, having had Irish believers in Australia since 1788. The Church established and ran a number of children's Homes in Tasmania.

Details

The Catholic Church became established in Tasmania, then Van Diemen's Land, in 1821 with the arrival of Father Philip Connolly. At the time, about one third of the population was Roman Catholic. Most of them were convicts, or former convicts, from Ireland.

For most of Tasmania's history the proportion of Catholics to other religions has only been about one fifth. Even so, Catholicism has been influential, with various orders establishing schools, including ragged schools in poor areas, hospitals, aged care homes, hospices, and children's Homes. The Homes were: St Joseph's Orphanage, the Magdalen Home, Boys' Town, and the St Vincent de Paul Boys' Hostel.

Related Organisations

Publications

Books

  • Southerwood, WT, Priceless heritage: the Tasmanian Catholic community, 1772-2010, Stella Maris Books, St Leonard's, Tasmania, 2012, 697 pp. Details

Online Resources

Photos

St Mary's Cathedral
Title
St Mary's Cathedral
Type
Image
Date
1900?
Source
Tasmanian Images: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Howell, PA, 'Catholicism', in The companion to Tasmanian history, Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, 2005, http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/C/Catholicism.htm.

Prepared by: Caroline Evans