Two Centuries of Catholic Experience in Australia (CH2202C)

Content

This unit explores the history of the Catholic Church in Australia in the following topics: earliest contact with Terra Australis via European exploration in the 16th-18th centuries; the first permanent, originally lay led community in Sydney; the foundation of the episcopal hierarchy and its extension across the continent; the 19th-century clash of visions between the English-led Benedictines and the Irish secular clergy and the role of Roman decision-making in the resolution of conflicts; personalities, spiritual styles and cultures; the education question; engagement with indigenous communities; the contribution of women; Catholic participation in 20th century debates surrounding labour controversies, war, conscription, Irish nationalism, the depression and communism; the Church’s relationship with non-Catholic traditions, first sectarianism and then ecumenism; the transformation of the social face of the Catholic community under the impact of post-World War II mass migration, secularization and the Second Vatican Council.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

CH1001C and CH1002C or equivalent

Pedagogy

Lectures, seminars and site visits

Indicative Bibliography

• Campion, Edmund. Australia’s Catholics: The Contribution of Catholics to the Development of Australian Society. Melbourne: Viking Press, 1987.
• Campion, Edmund. Great Australian Catholics. Richmond: Aurora Books, 1997.
• Duncan, Bruce. Crusade or Conspiracy? Catholics and the anti-Communist Struggle in Australia. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2001.
• Hogan, Michael. The Sectarian Strand: Religion in Australian History. Ringwood, Vic: Penguin Books, 1987.
• Massam, Katharine. Sacred Threads: Catholic Spirituality in Australia 1922-1962. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 1996.
• Niall, Brenda. Mannix. Melbourne: Text Publishing Company, 2015.
• O’Donoghue, Frances, The Bishop of Botany Bay: the life of John Bede Polding, Australia’s first Catholic bishop. London: Angus and Robertson, 1982.
• Dowd, Chris. Rome in Australia. The Papacy and Conflict in the Australian Missions, 1834-1884. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
• O’Farrell, Patrick. The Catholic Church and Community: An Australian History. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 3rd revised edition, 1992.
• Turner, Naomi. Catholics in Australia: A Social History. 2 vols. North Blackburn, Vic: Collins Dove, 1992.

Assessment