THE P RTAL
September 2014
Australia Pages - page 10
Daniel Mannix,
the Coadjutor
Bishop of Melbourne
Adrian Lanagan continues his series on a 19th century Catholic hero
I
n our
previous article we closed on the aspect of Dr Mannix, the keen traveller abroad. We now meet
him permanently “abroad” in his new home, West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
St Mary, Star of the Sea, Church School began in
1854 and it became a separate parish in 1873. It was
so named as a beacon to the ships in Port Phillip Bay.
There was a second beacon nearby named Flagstaff for
signalling to ships in the bay. In its infancy, St Mary’s
was an overwhelmingly Irish Australian parish. In the
years of the Gold Rush, however, a significant number
of Chinese Australians also worshipped there.
as Parish Priest of West Melbourne from 1913 until
1917. While serving as parish priest he effectively led
the campaign against Australians being conscripted to
fight in the World War then raging overseas.
militant advocacy
Mannix was regarded with suspicion from the start
and his militant advocacy on behalf of a separate
Roman Catholic school system, in defiance of the
On 1 July 1912, Mannix was consecrated in Maynooth general acceptance of a secular school system, made
College Chapel to be titular Bishop of Pharsalia and him immediately a figure of controversy.
Coadjutor to Archbishop Carr of Melbourne. Mannix
Once Archbishop he would serve as such almost
was never consulted about his appointment.
to the completion of his hundredth year. His own
Irish Catholics treated with disdain
coadjutor, Justin Simonds, similarly resided there and
Melbourne was one of the great centres of Irish served as Parish Priest for 21 years, from 1942 to 1963.
emigration and the Roman Catholic Church there Upon Simonds’ succession to the See of Melbourne
was almost entirely Irish. In Australia at this time the in 1963, Melbourne Auxiliary Bishop Arthur Fox
Irish Catholics were commonly treated with disdain served as Parish Priest of West Melbourne until his
by the English and Scottish majority (who were mostly appointment to the See of Sale in 1967.
Anglicans and Presbyterians respectively) and also seen References: James Griffin, (1986) The Australian Dictionary of Biography Aust. Nat. Uni.
as potentially disloyal. Daniel Mannix, as coadjutor Sir James Gobbo’s Speech 12 (4) March 1999, Victorian Governor pays Tribute to Mannix
to Archbishop Carr, resided at St Mary’s and served
Supporters’ Network
Monsignor Harry Entwistle has asked Fr Stephen
Hill, Rector of the Perth Ordinariate parish, to coordinate a network of supporters gathered from the
whole of the Australian Ordinariate Diocese of Our
Lady of the Southern Cross.
extends outside of our immediate Ordinariate family.
This allows us to inform a larger number of people of
upcoming events and news. There are many people
who want to support the mission of the Ordinariate,
but are not looking for a new worshipping home. The
Ordinariate Supporters’ Network is for those people.
Fr Stephen Hill writes: “The Ordinariate Supporters’
Network is a means for the Ordinariate to connect to
Anyone who is praying for the work of the Ordinariate
people who are not members of the Ordinariate or as it continues its work to foster unity and bring the
regular worshipers in an Ordinariate Parish.
English way of worship into the Church is encouraged
to join the Ordinariate Supporters’ Network. For
As the Ordinariate enters the next phase of its life, it further details and how to apply, contact Fr Stephen
is necessary to develop a broader support base which Hill: [email protected]
contents page