Sydney
18 May 2003
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Blue Wiggle’s wedding ‘a family affair’
Hostility of sexes ‘major threat’
Bishops ‘sent clear message’ on war
‘Standing room only’ at special Mass
Seven generations ...
New movements ‘fruits of Vatican II’
Archbishop questions move to change age of consent
Christian Brothers join call to let Timorese stay
Rosary procession honours Mary Help of Christians
Apology ‘bridge of peace’ for sex slaves
Catholic school popularity ‘a two-edged sword’
Editorial: A tidal change?
Letters: Mixed values?
Conversation: Dr Vivienne Keely CHF, historian and author - ‘Pamphlet’ on convict priest grew into book
Poverty and the ‘two-nation’ notion
School’s visual reminder of love
Inspirations: Faith, teaching boys and Saving Francesca
Galileo, the Church and the centre of the universe
Salesian needs in India, Timor
Facelift for Ashfield’s grand old lady
Seven generations ...
By Dr Joe Morley
My granddaughter, my daughter and I (representing seven generations of the Morley family in Australia) joined 3000 or more others in St Mary’s Basilica to mark the bicentenary of the first publicly sanctioned Mass.
Our ancestor, Joseph Morley, who arrived as a convict in the Second Fleet in 1790, would most certainly have been present at that historic Mass. Joseph’s cousin, also a Joseph Morley, who lived at Prospect, outside Parramatta, had arrived as a convict in the First Fleet in 1788 and would have been at
Fr Dixon’s second Mass, at Parramatta on May 22, 1803.
He was one of the five Catholics who presented Governor Arthur Phillip with a petition on November 30, 1792, asking him to use his good offices in England to secure permission for a Catholic priest to be sent to the colony.
The petition was ignored by the authorities in London.
When Frs Dixon, Harold and O’Neil arrived in Sydney as convicts in 1800 and 1801, the Catholic community, predominantly convicts and ex-convicts, must have been overjoyed.
What a contrast, then, between the motley Catholic congregation of bond and free people celebrating that first Mass at a makeshift venue in 1803 with the anniversary Mass with a congregation of free people in the majestic St Mary’s Basilica.
One wonders how Joseph Morley and his fellow Catholics would have reacted if they had been told that in 200 years’ time more than 3000 people - led by the hierarchy of the Church in Australia - would commemorate the Mass they attended on May 15, 1803.