ABOUT 40 bishops from around the nation gathered for a Mass in Sydney on May 11 celebrating the roots of Catholic practice in this land.
The celebration at St Mary’s Cathedral marked the 200th anniversary of the nation’s first Catholic Mass, celebrated by Fr James Dixon in Sydney on May 15, 1803.
Principal celebrant, Archbishop George Pell of Sydney was joined by his fellow bishops who were in Sydney for their plenary meeting.
Fr Dixon was a convict priest transported after the rebellion of the United Irishmen in 1798.
It is recorded that several hundred Irish Catholic convicts had to gather outdoors because there was no building in the colony large enough.
Archbishop Pell, in his homily on May 11, said that “in remembering Fr Dixon, we pay particular tribute to all those priests who have served God and their people during 200 years in Australia”.
“The people then wanted the Mass, and the Eucharist remains the centre of Catholic life now, as it was here 200 years ago and as it was everywhere in the Catholic world for nearly 1800 years before that,” he said.
