STORY - "Meeting the Challenges"

A Reflection on the Difficulties faced by Bishop Murray and the Catholic Community in the 1860s

The following extract from Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran (History of the Catholic Church in Australasia, Vol I, Oceanic Publishing Sydney 1895, pp.340-342) provides an interesting insight into the challenges faced by the then Diocese of Maitland in the 1860s. Patrick Moran (Archbishop and later Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Sydney, 1884-1911) gleaned his information from correspondence Bishop James Murray (Bishop of Maitland, 1865-1909) sent to him and other associates. At the time the Diocese of Maitland covered a large area stretching from Newcastle, west to beyond the Darling River and north almost to Brisbane. As the bishop of such a large diocese Murray acted as ‘virtually a bush missionary’. He carried out his arduous duties with the support of a limited number of priests, a small community of Dominican nuns and a generous and loyal laity.

Cardinal Moran writes:

Dr Murray lost no time in entering on the duties of the missionary life. Wherever he went on visitation there were to be found adults long yearning for an opportunity to receive the Sacraments. In a letter dated 10th of August, 1868, he writes that during the preceding months he had visited several districts of the Diocese and had confirmed about 1500 persons, ‘many of whom were advanced in years’. On November the 21st, 1866, he writes: ‘I had Father Phelan and Father Leonard here yesterday to make out as well as I could the various wants of the Diocese. There is plenty of work for three priests more than I have. I will be obliged to send Father Doyle to the district of the Namoi River, about 250 miles off, and I will have to attend myself to East Maitland and Morpeth and to a gaol besides. I am quite delighted with the people of Maitland. They are all Irish and as warm-hearted as our people at home and solidly attached to religion and the Holy See. There is a splendid field for a few zealous priests…You would be delighted with the simplicity and the faith of the people in the country districts. If we had eight priests more and the community of nuns, we could rest some time. There are eight priests at present under my jurisdiction. I have seen them all except one. On the 19th of February, 1867, he writes: ‘My affairs have changed for the worst since I last wrote to you, for two priests have left. Myself, Father Doyle, and Father Phelan now attend to West and East Maitland, Morpeth, Lochinvar, Branxton, the Paterson district, and Clarence Town. Then Singleton, Muswellbrook, Scone, Murrurundi and two other stations of importance are all under the charge of one priest, comprising a territory of more than 100 miles in length, and I am not able to tell you how many miles in width. Father Leonard visits all these places at stated times and is absent for two or three Sundays from Singleton and the people have no Mass. During his last tour I went up there for three Sundays and said Mass for the people at Singleton, but now I cannot even do that, owing to our wants in Maitland’… On September the 20th, 1867, the Bishop again writes: ‘I hasten to announce to you the arrival of the good Dominican Nuns…On their arrival on the 10th of September we had a Te Deum and Benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament in the church, and afterwards they were conducted to their new home with which they seem to be well pleased. They have already taken charge of St John’s school, in which the attendance has considerably increased, and in a few days they will open a pension school’.

Dr Murray’s comments provide an insight into the Catholic community in the Diocese of Maitland in the late 1860s. Clearly, there is a hierarchy in place – an enthusiastic bishop who drives the diocese by working with his priests, religious and people. The strong bonds that bind the bishop, priest, religious and laity are evident. The Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, provide the cement which unites the Catholic community. The bishop ensured that each person in his diocese played his or her designated part in building the church. The devotion, generosity and affection of the Catholic laity are noted, as well as the diligence and dedication of the female religious and priests. Due emphasis is given to the itinerant and missionary nature of the Australian priesthood.

Apparent also are the challenges – a growing Catholic population, a limited number of priests and religious and the tyranny of distance. And yet, there is a clear sense of optimism, a sense of hope, a sense of enthusiasm. Here is evident the work of the Holy Spirit providing priest and people alike with the means to meet such challenges. And indeed by working together the Catholic community overcame these early difficulties. By 1878 there were 25 priests working with the bishop in the diocese, a number of convents had been established at Maitland, Newcastle, Singleton, Tamworth and Gunnedah and various schools operated including a school for deaf girls and a college for boys, staffed by various religious congregations. By 1887 when the boundaries of the diocese were reduced to cover only the Hunter, Manning and Hastings valleys, Bishop Murray reorganised what had basically been a single missionary area into a number of properly constituted parishes. It was this structure that was to serve the Catholic community well for over a hundred years.

In choosing a model of church which best suited the needs of his diocese, Bishop Murray drew principally on his experiences in Ireland. Like many of his fellow Irish bishops, he chose not to follow the model presented to him by his ecclesiastical superior, John Bede Polding, Archbishop of Sydney. Archbishop Polding was an Englishman and a Benedictine monk. He envisaged an Australian church that would be predominantly staffed by monks who would go out to minister to the faithful from various Benedictine monasteries, some of which would be attached to monastic cathedrals. Bishop Murray with his reliance on secular priests, the parish based structure and his general mistrust of things English ensured that the ‘Benedictine Dream’ did not take hold in the Diocese of Maitland.

Clearly some of the challenges that faced the Diocese of Maitland in the 1860s and 1870s still resonate in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. The Catholic community today is not so dissimilar from the community that worked with Bishop Murray. One witnesses the same levels of enthusiasm, trust, commitment and generosity from bishop, priest, religious and lay person. Central to this is an awareness of the giftedness of each person. One experiences a renewed spirit of co-operation and collaboration and a willingness to explore new models of church and ordained ministry, inspired by the Holy Spirit. And as was the case with Bishop Murray and his flock, the Catholic community today can be assured that such trust in the Lord will bear much fruit (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Christopher Mooney

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