John Bede Polding OSB (18 November 179416 March 1877) was an English Benedictine monk and the first

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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 came from the Brewer family of

recusants Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

since the sixteenth century. His family name was also spelled "Poulden" or "Polten". His parents died and at age 8 he was placed in the care of his uncle, Father Bede Brewer, president-general of the English Benedictine Congregation. Polding was first taught by the Benedictine nuns of the Convent of Our Lady of Consolation of Cambray, who as refugees from revolutionary France were located at Much Woolton, near Liverpool. At 11, he was sent to St Gregory's Benedictine College at

Acton Burnell Acton Burnell () is a village and parish in the English county of Shropshire. Home to Concord College, it is also famous for an early meeting of Parliament where the Statute of Acton Burnell was passed in 1283. The population at the 2011 cen ...

near

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. Vol 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. On 15 July 1810, Polding was admitted to the religious community, taking the name "Bede" in honour both of the

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

and his uncle. He received minor orders in 1813 from Bishop

John Milner John David Milner (December 28, 1949 – January 4, 2000) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from to for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Montreal ...

in Wolverhampton and was ordained priest by Bishop

William Poynter William Poynter (20 May 1762 – 26 November 1827) was an English Catholic priest who served as Vicar Apostolic of London. Life Early life Poynter was educated at the English College at Douai, where he was ordained in 1786. He remained as p ...

at Old Hall College on 4 March 1819. In turn he held the offices of parish priest, prefect, novice-master and sub-prior in his monastery. In 1819 Polding's cousin, Bishop Edward Bede Slater, was appointed

vicar apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

with jurisdiction over Mauritius, Madagascar, the Cape, New Holland and Van Diemen's Land. From 1826 to 1834 he was secretary to the president-general of the Benedictine Congregation. In 1832, Pope Gregory XVI invited him to become Bishop of Hierocaesarea ''in partibus infidelium''.

Experiences in Australia

In 1834 Polding was appointed Bishop of Hierocaesarea ''in partibus infidelium'' and Vicar Apostolic of New Holland, Van Diemen's Land and the adjoining islands. Polding and party arrived first in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

on 6 August 1835. Leaving a priest and a student there, he travelled on and arrived in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 13 September 1835. The authorities soon realised the good effect his influence was having, and arranged that, on the arrival of every ship-load of convicts, all the Catholics should be placed at his disposal for some days, during which the bishop and his assistants saw each prisoner personally and did all they could for them before they were drafted off to their various destinations. Polding travelled widely throughout Australia and was regarded as hard-working. He traveled to Europe in November 1840, appointing Francis Murphy to serve as vicar general of the diocese during his absence. On 5 April 1842, Polding was appointed the first Bishop of Sydney and subsequently Archbishop on 22 April 1842. Some sources report that as a result of a successful diplomatic mission to Malta, Archbishop Polding was made a

Count of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

. This cannot be true, since the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

was dissolved ''de facto'' in 1806. It is possible, on the other hand, that he was made a

papal Count The papal nobility are the aristocracy of the Holy See, composed of persons holding titles bestowed by the Pope. From the Middle Ages into the nineteenth century, the papacy held direct temporal power in the Papal States, and many titles of papal ...

. Reports are probably accurate which say that he was appointed an ''Assistant at the Pontifical Throne'',Tout-Smith, D. (2003) "John Bede Polding, Archbishop (1794-1877)" in Museums Victoria Collections
/ref> an honorific title formerly granted by the Popes to some bishops. Despite his many successes as a founding bishop, Polding experienced a degree of resistance from his largely Irish Catholic church in Australia. Even after the English

Catholic Emancipation Act 1829 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 ( 10 Geo. 4. c. 7), also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that removed the sacramental tests that barred Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom f ...

, the Irish were resistant to non-Irish bishops. The British

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

laws of the Reformation Parliament and the

Act of Supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the E ...

had bred deep resentment among the Irish against the English, and the consequences of the dissolution of monasteries during the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

had left Polding deeply committed to the primary vision of restoring

monasticism Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Chr ...

in English-speaking lands such as Australia. In 1843 Polding established a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

for

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

at Moongalba on

Stradbroke Island Stradbroke Island, also known as Minjerribah, was a large sand island that formed much of the eastern side of Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Queensland until the late 19th century. Today the island is split into two islands: North Stradbroke Is ...

, staffed by

Passionist The Passionists, officially named the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, are a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720, with a special emphasis on a ...

priests. However, the attempt failed and the Passionists left the island not long afterwards. He helped establish

St John's College, University of Sydney St John's College, or the College of St John the Evangelist, is a residential college within the University of Sydney. Established in 1857, the college is the oldest Roman Catholic, and second-oldest overall, university college in Australia. ...

and Mary's College, Lyndhurst. Polding travelled again to Rome in 1846 hoping to obtain a coadjutor bishop and Benedictine nuns to help in his diocese. He was successful in these quests and also gained approval for the establishment of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

as a separate see. With his support, the

Religious Sisters of Charity The Religious Sisters of Charity or Irish Sisters of Charity is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded by Mary Aikenhead in Ireland on 15 January 1815. Its motto is ('The love Christ urges us on'; ). The institute has its headquarte ...

began the House of the Good Shepherd. In 1857 Polding established the

Sisters of the Good Samaritan The Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, colloquially known as the "Good Sams", is a Roman Catholic congregation of religious women commenced by Bede Polding, OSB, Australia’s first Catholic bishop, in Sydney in 1857. The congrega ...

, an Australian congregation of Religious women. In January 1874, he retired to Sacred Heart Presbytery, Darlinghurst. Polding died on 16 March 1877 in Sydney, aged 82, and was initially buried at Petersham Cemetery. He was later reinterred in St Mary's Cathedral.

Legacy

Apart from the many churches he founded, Polding began the construction of the second

St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians, locally known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is a Catholic basilica and the seat of the Archdiocese of Sydney. The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Vi ...

in 1868, where he was later re-buried. Polding also founded the

in Sydney.

Bede Polding College Bede Polding College is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in South Windsor, on the north-western outskirts of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school delivers a religious and secular education to ...

, South Windsor, in the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

is named after him.Bede Polding College Sth Windsor
/ref>

References

Sources

*Bede Nairn,

, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 2, MUP, 1967, pp 340–347. *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polding, John Bede 1794 births 1877 deaths Clergy from Liverpool English people of Dutch descent People educated at Downside School English Benedictines Australian Benedictines English Roman Catholic missionaries British emigrants to Australia Roman Catholic archbishops of Sydney Clergy from Sydney Benedictine bishops 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Australia Founders of Catholic religious communities Burials at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney Roman Catholic missionaries in Australia Roman Catholic bishops of Sydney