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Irish Convicts
Around 30% of 756 convicts were baptised and catholic but there were mostly Irish Catholics -
Sunday Church
Governer Phillip made all convicts attend Sunday church even if they were catholic some refused and they were flogged some even burnt the church down -
Arriving in the great Southern land
All of the British prisons were over flowing with convicts so they had to be transported to the great Southern land to make more room sadly 90% of the indigenous population had to be wiped out so that meant they would loose there land -
Challenge and change
As the convicts eagerly continued to ask for a priest to do the sacraments -
Governor Phillip
NSW needed permission from the British authorities. As the governor’s before had refused to the request of catholic clergy -
Facing the challenge
There was only one way for the catholic convicts to keep there faith was saying their traditional prayers and some from mass -
Fr James Dixon
The king trusted that he would be able to conduct a school in NSW as well as a priest 1798 to 1800 -
First public church
Finally a real catholic mass occurred in the great southern land 15th of may 1803. But not only that Father Dixon was also doing marriages and baptisms. They also do early church now.