num_pages: 294
description: Patrick O'Farrell's purpose is to give a historical survey of the Catholic Church in Australia from its beginnings until the present day. For the first thirty years after the planting of Catholicism in Australia the predominantly Irish Catholic population was largely priestless and persecuted. Almost incredibly it survived. After this period some of the key personalities involved in this history were such men as Fr Therry and Archbishop Ullathorne, followed by Archbishop Polding with his 'Benedictine dream'. By the middle of the nineteenth century Australian Catholics no longer had to fight so ardently for religious rights; the battles became political and largely cut across religious divisions and the issues were liberalism, radicalism and authority. Within a decade or so interest switched to the problem of education.Other issues in the nineteenth century concerned relations between Catholics and the state, and strife between English and Irish factions among Australian Catholics. Cardinal Moran therefore devoted himself partly to establishing and maintaining external harmony and internal unity. In the twentieth century Dr Mannix, as Archbishop of Melbourne from 1912 to 1962, was a rigorous pursuer of principle and the author shows how his period of office was one of 'confrontation, challenge, conflict'. A final chapter discusses the problems of identity and politics from 1925 until the present; this has been a time of considerable political upheaval in the Church's relations with the Labor Party, and more recently of greatly increased lay involvement in Catholic life.As a true historian Dr O'Farrell not only gives facts but draws out their significance and puts them into perspective. The way in which he relates Australia's Catholic to the rest of world history is particularly striking. The result is what Professor Max Charlesworth of Melbourne University describes as 'a small masterpiece'.
language: English
title: The Catholic Church in Australia: A Short History, 1788–1967
titlecomplete: The Catholic Church in Australia: A Short History, 1788–1967
publisher: Chapman