Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney Rev Terry Brady “[Fr Therry] is a great personal inspiration to me and to many Catholics in Sydney”
Photo: Giovanni Portelli The founding fathers of the Catholic Faith in Australia were honoured by the Sydney Archdiocese via live-stream Mass last weekend.
The Mass took place on Sunday, May 3 at Saint Mary’s Cathedral and marked the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the country’s first sanctioned priests – Irish-born Fr John Joseph Therry and Fr Philip Conolly.
The priests sailed from Co. Cork on a convict ship to celebrate Mass in the New South Wales (NSW) colony after decades of hostility from the NSW government. Public Mass then was forbidden despite the growing number of Catholics among the soldiers and convicts.
While Fr Conolly moved onto ministry in Tasmania, Fr Therry spent more than 40 years as a priest in Sydney and established the first church where the cathedral now stands.
“He [Fr Therry] is a great personal inspiration to me and to many Catholics in Sydney,” said Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney Rev Terry Brady.
“He was tremendously hard-working and resilient and really laid great foundations for the Church in Australia.”
Bishop Brady also spoke of Fr Therry’s advocacy for the fair treatment of Indigenous Australians saying he “had a great commitment to social justice” ensuring that “Aborigines could access education and a good standard of accommodation”.
Legacy
Australian Catholic Church historian, Fr Edmund Campion, said Fr Therry’s legacy to the Church was profound.
“When he first arrived in Australia, he said he’d only stay here for four years. But instead he ended up staying for a remarkable 44 years and he really became the Church for the Catholics living here at that time.”
