St Francis' Church on the corner of

Lonsdale Street Lonsdale Street is a main street and thoroughfare in the city centre of Melbourne, Australia. It runs roughly east–west and was laid out in 1837 as one of Melbourne's original boundaries within the Hoddle Grid. The street extends from ...

and Elizabeth Street, is the oldest

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. The main body of the church (with various later additions) is one of very few buildings in central Melbourne which was built before the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capit ...

of 1851.

History

On April 28, 1839 a committee of the Catholics at Port Philip, who customarily met for prayer in the house of Peter Bodecin, wrote

Bede Polding John Bede Polding, OSB (18 November 1794 in 16 March 1877 ) was the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Australia. Early life Polding was born in Liverpool, England on 18 November 1794. His father was of Dutch descent and his mother ...

, vicar-apostolic of New Holland, Van Diemen's Land and the adjoining islands, requesting a priest. Polding sent Father

Patrick Geoghegan Patrick Bonaventure Geoghegan, O.F.M. (1805–1864) was an Irish Roman Catholic clergyman who served firstly as Bishop of Adelaide. Born in Dublin, he became a Franciscan friar and served at a Dublin parish before volunteering for Australia. Af ...

O.F.M., who had arrived from Dublin the previous December. Geoghegan landed at Williamstown on May 15. He was the first resident Catholic priest in the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The church's foundation stone was laid on 4 October 1841, the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, to whom the church is dedicated."Early history", St Francis’ Church, Melbourne
/ref> The first mass was held in the completed nave on 22 May 1842.

Mary MacKillop Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian religious sister who has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church, as St Mary of the Cross. Of Scottish descent, she was born in Melbourne but is best known f ...

(1842–1909) was baptised at St Francis' Church in 1842. The completed church was blessed on 23 October 1845. In 1848, St Francis' became the cathedral church of the first Catholic Bishop of Melbourne, James Goold, and continued as a cathedral until 1868, when the diocesan seat was moved to the still unfinished St Patrick's Cathedral. The elegant cedar ceiling was installed in 1850. The ornate Ladye Chapel on the west side was designed by George and Schneider and constructed in 1856-58, with decoration by Le Gould and Souter. A new sanctuary designed by Reed and Barnes was added in 1878-9 in the Renaissance style.St Francis Church
Victorian Heritage Register The front porch was added in 1956, incorporating the roof of a smaller porch added in the 1850s. At different times, various Catholic organizations have been based at St Francis’ Church.

Present day

Centrally located in the Melbourne's CBD, St Francis' has never lost its place as one of the city's most popular and widely used churches, and today is the busiest church in Australia, with more than 10,000 worshippers attending each week. Since 1929, it has been a centre of Eucharistic Life in the care of the

Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament ( la, Congregatio Sanctissimi Sacramenti), commonly known as the Sacramentinos is a Catholic Clerical Religious Congregation of Pontifical Right for men (priests, deacons, and brothers) founded by St. ...

. A monastery was constructed in the late 1930s. The church is listed with

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

, the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and the

Australian Heritage Commission The Australian Heritage Commission (AHC), was the Australian federal government authority established in 1975 by the ''Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975'' as the first body to manage natural and cultural heritage in Australia until its de ...

. Although there have been many changes made to the building, including the erection of a new tower, a gift from the Grollo family, to house the original 1853 bell imported from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, the church remains essentially as it was designed by Samuel Jackson.

References

External links

St Francis Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Francis Catholic Church, Melbourne Roman Catholic churches in Melbourne Elizabeth Street, Melbourne Buildings and structures in Melbourne City Centre Roman Catholic churches in Victoria (Australia) Roman Catholic churches completed in 1845 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Australia 1845 establishments in Australia Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne