Challenge and Change in the Early Australian Catholic Church 1788-1850 First Priest? and Three Convict Priests

Fr Louis Le Receveur Irish priests were not the first Catholic clergy in Australia. A French expedition arrived in Sydney Cove on 25th January 1788. On board was a priest-scientist Fr Louis Le Receveur. Fr Receveur would have said Mass daily and so the first Mass said in Australia would have been on this French ship. Fr Receveur died on the expedition and is buried in La Peruse, Sydney.

Fr Peter O’Neill Fr O’Neill arrived in February 1801, unjustly sentenced after the 1898 Rebellion in Ireland. Little is known of his ministry in the colony. He left Sydney in 1803, following a review of his case.

Fr James Harold Fr Harold arrived in Sydney in January 1800, but as he was not permitted to minister in New South Wales he sought leave to depart. Unrest among Irish convicts led the authorities to suspect him , though he claimed that he 'tried at all times to prevent any disturbance and to preserve the peace of the community'. He refused to name Irishmen whom he knew were planning disturbances. Several Irishmen were flogged, and Fr Harold with others was banished to Norfolk Island.

Fr Harold On Norfolk Island Fr Harold conducted a school . He repeatedly petitioned Governor Philip Gidley King for permission to minister as a priest but was ignored. When Father James Dixon left Australia, Fr Harold returned to Paramatta in 1808. He was among the Irishmen pardoned by Governor Macquarie in June 1810, and left the colony in the Concord in July for the United States.

Fr James Dixon Fr Dixon was caught up in the reaction to the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and was transported to Australia, arriving in January 1800. Governor King allowed him to conduct a school because he trusted him as an educated member of the “middle class”. To help soothe discontent, King allowed Fr Dixon to work as a priest among the people.

First Public Mass The First “Official” Catholic Mass celebrated in Australia occurred in Sydney on 15th May 1803. Catholics were only able to attend mass in their place of residence, so Sunday mass was held in rotation in Sydney, Parramatta and Hawkesbury. As well as Mass, Dixon officiated at marriages, baptised children and attended prisoners on the scaffold. Father Dixon celebrates an early Mass. Note the " Chasuble" fashioned from an old damask curtain. We see that this was not an " officially" sanctioned Mass : note the " cockatoo" or lookout stationed at the door in case of  trouble from the Authorities. This image comes from a stained glass window in St. Mary's Basilica in Sydney.