Christianity in Australia
Encyclopedia
Christianity
is the largest religion listed by Australians in the national census. In the 2006 Census, 63.9% of Australians were listed as Christian
. Australia
has no official state religion and the Australian Constitution protects freedom of religion
. The presence of Christianity in Australia began with the arrival of the First Fleet
of British convicts in 1788. The religion grew to account for 96.1% of the national population at the time of the Federation of Australia
in 1901. The Anglican Church of Australia
(formerly known as the Church of England
) remained the largest denomination until 1986, when it was surpassed by the Roman Catholic Church in Australia. Post-war multiculturalism
and a decline in religious observance among some sections of the population have diversified the demographics of Religion in Australia
.
Of the roughly 64% identifying as Christian in 2006, the largest proportions were either Roman Catholic (25.8%) or Anglican (18.7%), with the third largest group being the 5.7% affiliated with the Uniting Church in Australia
. Post-war immigration has grown the numbers belonging to churches like the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
and there are small but growing Pentecostal groups, such as Sydney's Hillsong Church
. The festivals of Easter
and Christmas
are public holidays in Australia. Around a quarter of students attend church schools and Christian organisations are leading non-government providers of health and welfare services through organisations like Catholic Health Australia
, Anglicare
, UnitingCare Australia
, the Salvation Army
and St Vincent de Paul Society.
Historically significant Australian Christians have included Saint Mary MacKillop, Catherine Helen Spence
, Pastor David Unaipon
, the Reverend John Flynn
and Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls. High profile contemporary Australian Christians include: Tim Costello
Baptist
minister and current CEO of World Vision Australia, Frank Brennan, Jesuit human rights lawyer, Cardinal
George Pell
, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney
, Phillip Aspinall
the current Anglican Primate and Archbishop
of Brisbane, Kevin Rudd
, former Labor
Prime Minister
, and Tony Abbott
, leader for the Federal Opposition Liberal Party
.
. Europeans had assumed the existence of a great southern land mass since ancient times. Among the first Catholics known to have sighted Australia were the crew of a Spanish expedition of 1605-6. In 1606, the expedition's leader, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros landed in the New Hebrides
and, believing it to be the fabled southern continent, he named the land: Austrialis del Espiritu Santo Southern Land of the Holy Spirit. Later that year, his deputy Luís Vaz de Torres
sailed through Australia's Torres Strait
.
The permanent presence of Christianity in Australia began with the arrival of the First Fleet
of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. The Reverend Richard Johnson
of the Church of England
was licensed as chaplain to the Fleet and the settlement. In early Colonial times, Church of England clergy worked closely with the governors
. Johnson was charged by the governor, Arthur Phillip
, with improving "public morality" in the colony, but he was also heavily involved in health and education. The Reverend Samuel Marsden
(1765–1838) had magisterial
duties, and so was equated with the authorities by the convicts. He became known as the 'flogging parson' for the severity of his punishments Some of the Irish convicts had been transported to Australia for political crimes or social rebellion in Ireland, so the authorities were suspicious of Catholicism for the first three decades of settlement and Catholic convicts were compelled to attend Church of England services and their children and orphans were raised by the authorities as Anglicans.
One-tenth of all the convicts who came to Australia on the First Fleet were Catholic, and at least half of them were born in Ireland. A small proportion of British marines were also Catholic. Other groups were also represented, for example, among the Tolpuddle martyrs
were a number of Methodists
.
It was the crew of the French explorer La Pérouse
who conducted the first Catholic ceremony on Australian soil in 1788 - the burial of Father Louis Receveur
, a Franciscan monk, who died while the ships were at anchor at Botany Bay
, while on a mission to explore the Pacific. The first Catholic priest colonists arrived in Australia as convicts in 1800 - James Harold, James Dixon
and Peter O'Neill, who had been convicted for "complicity" in the Irish 1798 Rebellion. Fr Dixon was conditionally emancipated and permitted to celebrate Mass
. On 15 May 1803, in vestments made from curtains and with a chalice made of tin he conducted the first Catholic Mass in New South Wales
. The Irish led Castle Hill Rebellion of 1804 alarmed the British authorities and Dixon's permission to celebrate Mass was revoked. Fr Jeremiah Flynn, an Irish Cistercian, was appointed as Prefect Apostolic of New Holland
and set out from Britain for the colony uninvited. Watched by authorities, Flynn secretly performed priestly duties before being arrested and deported to London. Reaction to the affair in Britain led to two further priests being allowed to travel to the colony in 1820 - John Joseph Therry
and Philip Connolly
. The foundation stone for the first St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
was laid on 29 October 1821 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie
.
The absence of a Catholic mission in Australia before 1818 reflected the legal disabilities of Catholics in Britain and the difficult position of Ireland within the British Empire. The government therefore endorsed the English Benedictine
s to lead the early church in the colony. William Bernard Ullathorne
(1806–1889) was instrumental in influencing Pope Gregory XVI
to establish the hierarchy in Australia. Ullathorne was in Australia from 1833-1836 as vicar-general to Bishop William Morris (1794–1872), whose jurisdiction extended over the Australian missions.
The Church of England
lost its legal privileges in the Colony of New South Wales by the Church Act of 1836. Drafted by the Catholic attorney-general John Plunkett
, the act established legal equality for Anglicans, Catholics and Presbyterians and was later extended to Methodists. Nevertheless, social attitudes were slow to change. Laywoman Caroline Chisholm
(1808–1877) faced discouragements and anti-Catholic feeling when she sought to establish a migrant women's shelter and worked for women's welfare in the colonies in the 1840s, though her humanitarian efforts later won her fame in England and great influence in achieving support for families in the colony.
John Bede Polding, a Benedictine monk, was Sydney's first Catholic bishop (and then archbishop) from 1835 to 1877. Polding requested a community of nuns be sent to the colony and five Irish Sisters of Charity
arrived in 1838. The sisters set about pastoral care in a women's prison and began visiting hospitals and schools and establishing employment for convict women. The sisters went on to establish hospitals in four of the eastern states, beginning with St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
in 1857 as a free hospital for all people, but especially for the poor. At Polding's request, the Christian Brothers
arrived in Sydney in 1843 to assist in schools. In 1857, Polding founded an Australian order of nuns in the Benedictine tradition - the Sisters of the Good Samaritan
- to work in education and social work. While Polding was in office, construction began on the ambitious Gothic Revival designs for St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
and the final St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney.
Since the 19th century immigrants have included a broad range of Christian denominations and many of these now operate autonomously from the overseas founding denominations. Immigrants brought their own expressions of Christianity with them, particular examples are the Lutherans from Prussia
who tended to settle in the Barossa Valley
, South Australia
and in Queensland
, Methodists
in South Australia, with notable pockets coming from Cornwall
to work the copper mines in Moonta
. Other groups included the Presbyterian, Congregationalist
and Baptist
churches. Establishing themselves first at Sevenhill, in the newly established colony of South Australia
in 1848, the Jesuits were the first religious order of priests to enter and establish houses in South Australia, Victoria, Queensland
and the Northern Territory
. While the Austrian Jesuits traverssed the Outback on horseback to found missions and schools, Irish Jesuits arrived in the east in 1860 and had by 1880 established the major schools which survive to the present.
In 1885, Patrick Francis Moran became Australia's first cardinal
. Moran believed that Catholics' political and civil rights were threatened in Australia and, in 1896, saw deliberate discrimination in a situation where "no office of first, or even second, rate importance is held by a Catholic".
The Churches became involved in mission work among the Aboriginal people of Australia during the 19th century as Europeans came to control much of the continent and the majority of the population was eventually converted. Colonial churchmen such as Sydney's first Catholic archbishop, John Bede Polding strongly advocated for Aboriginal rights and dignity
With the withdrawal of state aid for church schools around 1880, the Catholic Church, unlike other Australian churches, put great energy and resources into creating a comprehensive alternative system of education. It was largely staffed by nun
s, brothers and priests of religious orders, such as the Christian Brothers
(who had returned to Australia in 1868); the Sisters of Mercy
(who had arrived in Perth in 1846); Marist Brothers
, who came from France in 1872 and the Sisters of St Joseph
, founded in Australia by Saint Mary MacKillop and Fr Julian Tenison Woods
in 1867. MacKillop travelled throughout Australasia
and established schools, convents and charitable institutions but came into conflict with those bishops who preferred diocesan control of the order rather than central control from Adelaide by the Josephite order. MacKillop administered the Josephites as a national order at a time when Australia was divided among individually governed colonies. She is today the most revered of Australian Catholics, canonised by Benedict XVI in 2010.
Also from Britain came the Salvation Army
(called "Salvos" in Australia), which had been established in the slums of East London in 1865 to minister to the impoverished outcasts of the city. The first Salvation Army meeting in Australia was held in 1880. Edward Saunders and John Gore led the meeting from the back of a greengrocer's cart in Adelaide Botanic Park with an offer of food for those who had not eaten. The Salvos also involved themeselves in finding work for the unemployed and in re-uniting families. In Melbourne from 1897 to 1910, The Army's Limelight Department
was established as Australia's first film production company. From such diverse activities, The Salvos have grown to be one of Australia's most respected charitable organisations, with a 2009 survey by Sweeney Research and the advertising group Grey Global finding the Salvation Army and the nation's Ambulance Service to be Australia's most trusted entities. Australia's George Carpenter was General of the Salvation Army
(worldwide leader) from 1939–1946 and Eva Burrows during the 1980s and 1990s.
Section 116 of the Australian Constitution of 1901 provided for freedom of religion
. With the exception of the indigenous population, descendants of gold rush
migrants and a small but significant Lutheran population of German descent, Australian society was predominantly Anglo-Celtic, with 40% of the population being Anglican, 23% Roman Catholic
, 34% other Christian and about 1% professing non-Christian religions. The first census in 1911 showed 96.1 percent identified themselves as Christian.
Sectarianism
in Australia tended to reflect the political inheritance of Britain
and Ireland
. Until 1945, the vast majority of Catholics in Australia were of Irish
descent, causing the Anglo-Protestant majority to question their loyalty to the British Empire
. Anglicanism remained the largest Christian denomination
until the 1986 census. After World War II
, the ethnic and cultural mix of Australia diversified and Anglicanism gave way to Catholicism as the largest denomination. The number of Anglicans attending regular worship began to decline in 1959 and figures for occasional services (baptisms, confirmations, weddings and funerals) started to decline after 1966.
Further waves of migration and the gradual winding back of the White Australia Policy
, helped to reshape the profile of Australia's religious affiliations over subsequent decades. The impact of migration from Europe in the aftermath of World War II led to increases in affiliates of the Orthodox
Churches, the establishment of Reformed bodies, growth in the number of Catholics (largely from Italian migration) and Jews
(Holocaust survivors), and the creation of ethnic parishes among many other denominations. More recently (post-1970s), immigration from South-East Asia and the Middle East has expanded Buddhist
and Muslim
numbers considerably and increased the ethnic diversity of existing Christian denominations.
Russian sailors visiting Sydney celebrated the Divine Liturgy as long ago as 1820 and a Greek Orthodox population emerged from the mid 19th Century. The Greeks of Sydney and Melbourne had a priest by 1896 and the first Greek Orthodox Church was opened at Surry Hills in Sydney in 1898. In 1924, the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand was established under the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Greek immigration increased considerably following World War II and the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand was elevated to Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
and Metropolitan Ezekiel was appointed Archbishop in 1959. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited Australia in November 1996.
In the 1970s, the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches in Australia united to form the Uniting Church in Australia
. The Church remains prominent in welfare services, and noted for its innovative ministry initiatives such as those pioneered at centres like Sydney's Wayside Chapel
in King's Cross.
1970 saw the first visit to Australia by a Pope, Paul VI. Pope John Paul II was the next Pope to visit Australia in 1986. At Alice Springs, the Pope made an historic address to indigenous Australians, in which he praised the enduring qualities of Aboriginal culture, lamented the effects of dispossession of and discrimination; called for acknowledgment of Aboriginal land rights and reconciliation in Australia; and said that the Church in Australia would not reach its potential until Aboriginal people had made their "contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others". In July 2008, Sydney hosted the massive youth festival led by Pope Benedict XVI
. Around 500,000 welcomed the pope to Sydney and 270,000 watched the Stations of the Cross
. More than 300,000 pilgrims camped out overnight in preparation for the final Mass., where final attendance was between 300,000 and 400,000 people.
In recent times, the Christian churches of Australia have been active in ecumenical activity. The Australian Committee for the World Council of Churches was established in 1946 by the Anglican and mainline Protestant churches. The movement evolved and expanded with Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches later joining and by 1994 the Catholic Church was also a member of the national ecumenical body, the National Council of Churches in Australia
.
Data for table from Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The Christian denominations and European culture have had a significant impact on Indigenous Australians
, their religion and their culture. As in many colonial
situations the churches both facilitated the loss of Indigenous Australian culture and religion and also facilitated its maintenance. The involvement of Christians in Aboriginal affairs has evolved singnificantly since 1788. Around the year 2000, many Churches and Church organisations officially apologised for past failures to adequately respect indigenous cultures and address the injustices of the dispossession of indigenous people.
Christian missionaries attempted to convert
Indigenous people to Christianity. The Presbyterian Church of Australia
’s Australian Inland Mission
and the Lutheran
mission at Hermannsburg, Northern Territory
being examples. Many missionaries often studied Aboriginal society from an Anthropological
perspective. Missionaries have made significant contributions to anthropological and linguistic understanding of Indigenous Australians and aspects of Christian services have been adapted when there is Aboriginal involvement - even masses during Papal visits to Australia will include traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremonies
. It was the practice of some Missions to enforce a 'forgetting' of Aboriginal culture. Others, like Fr Kevin McKelson of Broome
encouraged aboriginal culture and language while also promoting the merits of western style education in the 1960s.
Prominent Aboriginal activist Noel Pearson, himself raised at a Lutheran mission in Cape York
, has written that missions throughout Australia's colonial history "provided a haven from the hell of life on the Australian frontier while at the same time facilitating colonisation".
In the Torres Strait Islands
, the Coming of the Light Festival marks the day the Christian missionaries first arrived on the islands on 1 July 1871 and introduced Christianity to the region. This is a significant festival for Torres Strait Islanders, who are predominantly Christian. Religious and cultural ceremonies are held across Torres Strait and mainland Australia.
Prominent Aboriginal Christians have included Pastor David Unaipon
, the first Aboriginal author; Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls
, athlete, activist and former Governor of South Australia
; Mum (Shirl) Smith
, a celebrated Redfern
community worker who, assisted by the Sisters of Charity
, worked in the courts and organised prison visitations, medical and social assistance for Aborigines, and former Senator Aden Ridgeway
, the first Chairman of the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry. The Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, associated with the Uniting Church of Australia, is an organisation developed and managed by Indigenous people to "provide spiritual, social and economic pathways for Australia's First People".
In recent times, Christians like Fr Ted Kennedy
of Redfern, Jesuit human rights lawyer Fr Frank Brennan and the Josephite Sisters
have been prominent in working for Aboriginal rights and improvements to standards of living.
's Church of England
chaplain, Richard Johnson
, was credited as "the physician both of soul and body" during the famine of 1790 and was charged with general supervision of schools. The Catholic laywoman Caroline Chisolm helped single migrant women and rescued homeless girls in Sydney. In his welcoming address to the Catholic World Youth Day 2008
in Sydney the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd
, said that Christianity had been a positive influence on Australia: "It was the church that began first schools for the poor, it was the church that began first hospitals for the poor, it was the church that began first refuges for the poor and these great traditions continue for the future."
and the Job Network
) and education
. These include:
See: List of Not For Profit Organisations in Australia.
is the largest non-government provider grouping of health, community and aged care services in Australia. They do not operate for profit. They range across the full spectrum of health services and represent about 10% of the health sector, employing 35,000 people.
Religious orders founded many of Australia's hospitals. The Irish Sisters of Charity
order arrived in Sydney in 1838 and established St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
in 1857 as a free hospital for the poor. The sisters went on to found hospitals, hospices, research institutes and aged care facilities in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. At St Vincent's they trained leading surgeon Victor Chang
and opened Australia's first AIDS
clinic. In the 21st century, with more and more lay people involved in management, the sisters began collaborating with Sisters of Mercy
hospitals in Melbourne and Sydney. Jointly the group operates four public hospitals, seven private hospitals and 10 aged care facilities.
The English Sisters of the Little Company of Mary
arrived in 1885 and have since established public and private hospitals, retirement living and residential aged care, community care and comprehensive palliative care in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
The Little Sisters of the Poor
, who follow the charism
of Saint Jeanne Jugan
to "offer hospitality to the needy aged" arrived in Melbourne in 1884 and now operate four aged care homes in Australia.
Another prodominant welfare agency is ADRA
,(Advestist Development and Relief Agency). This welfare agency is a internationally recognized agency run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church
. ADRA is opperational in more than 120 countries, around the world, providing relief and development, where ever needed. Within Australia they provide shelter, relief, and services to those in need. They have numerous refuges set up those suffering abuse, as well as shelters for those in need. As well many other things such as food distribution, op-shops etc. For more information visit http://www.adra.org.au/
The Reverend John Flynn
, a minister of the Presbyterian Church founded what was to become the Royal Flying Doctor Service in 1928 in Cloncurry, Queensland, to bring health services to the isolated communities of the Australian Bush
.
s. The Catholic education
system is the second biggest sector after government schools and has more than 650,000 students and around 21 per cent of all secondary school enrolments. The Catholic Church has established primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions in Australia. The Anglican Church has around 145 schools in Australia
, providing for more than 105,000 children. The Uniting Church has around 48 schools.
Mary MacKillop
was a 19th century Australian nun who founded an educational order, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart
, and has recently become the first Australian to be canonised as a saint
by the Roman Catholic Church
. Other Catholic religious orders involved in education in Australia have included: Sisters of Mercy
, Marist Brothers
, Christian Brothers
, Benedictine Sisters
and Jesuits.
Church schools range from elite, high cost schools to low fee locally based schools. Denominations with networks of schools include:
Anglican
Roman Catholic
Uniting Church
Baptist
Eastern Orthodox
Lutheran
Nondenominational
The Australian Catholic University
opened in 1991 following the amalgamation of four Catholic tertiary institutions in eastern Australia. These institutions had their origins in the 19th century, when religious orders and institutes became involved in preparing teachers for Catholic schools and nurses for Catholic hospitals. The University of Notre Dame Australia
opened in Western Australia in December 1989, and now has over 9000 students on three campuses in Fremantle, Sydney and Broome.
clergy worked closely with the governors. The Reverend Samuel Marsden
had magisterial
duties and so was equated with the authorities by the convicts. He became known as the "floging parson" for the severity of his punishments. An early Catholic missionary, William Ullathorne
, criticised the convict system, publishing a pamphlet, The Horrors of Transportation Briefly Unfolded to the People, in Britain in 1837. Australia's first Catholic cardinal
, Patrick Francis Moran (1830–1911), was politically active. As a proponent of Australian Federation he denounced anti-Chinese legislation as "unchristian"; became an advocate for women's suffrage
and alarmed conservatives by supporting trade unionism and "Australian socialism". Archbishop Daniel Mannix
of Melbourne was a controversial voice against conscription
during World War I
and against British policy in Ireland.
Aboriginal pastors David Unaipon
and Sir Douglas Nicholls
, former Catholic priest Patrick Dodson
and Jesuit priest Frank Brennan have been high profile Christians engaged in the cause of Aboriginal rights.
The Australian Labor Party
had largely been supported by Catholics until prominent layman B. A. Santamaria
formed the Democratic Labor Party
over concerns of Communist influence over the trade union movement in the 1950s.
In 1999, Catholic cardinal Edward Clancy wrote to the prime minister, John Howard
, urging him to send an armed peacekeeping force to East Timor
to end the violence engulfing that country. The current Archbishops of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell
(Catholic) and Peter Jensen (Anglican), have concerned themselves with traditional issues of Christian doctrine, such as marriage
or abortion
, but have also raised questions about government policies such as the Work Choices industrial relations reforms and the mandatory detention
of asylum seekers.
Tim Costello
, a Baptist
minister and the CEO of World Vision
Australia, has often been vocal on issues of welfare, foreign aid and climate change
.
, ministers in the Australian federal government may elect to swear that oath on the Bible. Half of the 40 member Cabinet of the Rudd Government
chose to do so in 2007. Historically most Australian Prime Ministers have been Christians of varying denominations. Of recent Prime Ministers, Bob Hawke
was an agnostic son a Congregational minister; Paul Keating
was practising Catholic
; John Howard
and Kevin Rudd
have been practising Anglicans.
Religion is often kept 'low-key' as topic of discussion in politics in Australia, but a number of current and past politicians present themselves as Christian in public life, these include:
and Easter
are marked as public holidays in Australia.
celebrate Christmas on 6 or 7 January. Both Christmas Day and 26 December (Boxing Day
) are public holidays throughout Australia.
Although Christmas in Australia is celebrated during the Southern Hemisphere
summer, many Northern Hemisphere
traditions are observed in Australia - families and friends exchange Christmas cards and gifts and gather for Christmas dinners; sing songs about snow and sleighbells; decorate Christmas Tree
s; and tell stories of Santa Clause. Nevertheless local adaptations have arisen - large open-air carol services are conducted on summer evenings before Christmas - such as the Carols by Candlelight
in Melbourne and Sydney's Carols in the Domain
. The Christmas song Six White Boomers, by Rolf Harris
, tells of Santa undertaking his flight around Australia hauled by six white-boomer kangaroos in place of reindeer
. Christian carols such as Three Drovers or Christmas Day by John Wheeler
and William G. James
place the hymns of praise firmly in an Australian context of warm, dry Christmas winds and red dust. Although a hot roast dinner remains a favourite Christmas meal, the summer temperatures can tempt some Australians toward the nearest watercourses to cool down between feasts. It is a tradition for international visitors to gather en masse at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Christmas Day.
The Assyrian Church of the East
is also known to be a crowd drawer for the special Christmas Eve midnight mass. More than 15,000 faithful gather at churches in Sydney
, notably the St Hurmizd Cathedral in Sydney's west.
's account of the Crucification and Resurrection
of Jesus Christ. In Australia, in addition to the religious significance of Easter for Christians, the festival is marked by a four-day holiday weekend starting on Good Friday
and ending on Easter Monday
- which generally coincides with school holidays and is an opportunity for family and friends to travel and reunite. Across Australia, church services are well attended, as are secular music festivals, fairs and sporting events.
Traditional Easter foods commonly consumed in Australia include Hot Cross Buns
, recalling the cross of the Crucifixion, and chocolate Easter Eggs - symbolic of the promise of New Life offered by the Resurrection. Although chocolate eggs are now eaten throughout the period, eggs were traditionally exchanged on Easter Sunday and, as in other nations, young children believe their eggs to be delivered by the Easter Bunny
. A local variant on this tradition is the story of the Easter Bilby
, which seeks to raise the profile of an endangered Australian native, the Bilby
whose existence is threatened by the imported European rabbit
population.
Other Easter traditions have been brought by migrant communities to Australia. Greek Orthodox traditions have a wide following among descendants of Greek immigrants; and a fishermen's tradition brought from Sicily
, the Ulladulla Blessing of the Fleet
, takes place on the New South Wales
South Coast with St Peter as patron.
See also
Most towns in Australia have at least one Christian church. One of Australia's oldest is St. James Church, Sydney
, built between 1819 and 1824. The historic Anglican
church was designed by Governor Macquarie
's architect, Francis Greenway
- a former convict - and built with convict labour. It is set on a sandstone base and built of face brick with the walls articulated by brick piers. Sydney's Anglican Cathedral of St Andrew
was consecrated in 1868 from foundations laid in the 1830s. Largely designed by Edmund Thomas Blacket in the Perpendicular Gothic style reminiscent of English cathedrals. Blacket also designed St Saviour's Goulburn Cathedral
, based on the on the Decorated Gothic style of a large English parish church and built between 1874-1884.
The "mother church" of Catholicism in Australia is St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
. The plan of the cathedral is a conventional English cathedral plan, cruciform in shape, with a tower over the crossing of the nave and transepts, and twin towers at the West Front, with impressive stained glass windows. 106.7 metres in length and a general width 24.4 metres, it is Sydney's largest church. Built to a design by William Wardell
from a foundation stone laid in 1868, the spires of the Cathedral were not finally added until the year 2000.
Wardell also worked on the design of St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
- considered among the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Australia. Wardell's overall design was in Gothic Revival style, paying tribute to the mediaeval cathedrals of Europe. Largely constructed between 1858 and 1897, the nave was Early English in style, while the remainder of the building is in Decorated Gothic. St Paul's Anglican Cathedral
, from a foundation stone laid in 1880, is another Melbourne landmark. It was designed by distinguished English architect William Butterfield
in Gothic Transitional.
Tasmania
is home to a number of significant colonial Christian buildings including those located at Australia's best preserved convict era settlement, Port Arthur
. According to 19th century notions of prisoner reform, the "Model Prison" incorporates a grim chapel into which prisoners in solitary confinement were shepherded to listen (in individual enclosures) to the preacher's Sunday sermon - their only permitted interaction with another human being. Adelaide, the capital of South Australia
has long been known as the "City of Churches" and its St Peter's Anglican Cathedral
is a noted city landmark. 130 km north of Adelaide is the Jesuit old stone winery and cellars at Sevenhill
, founded by Austrian Jesuits in 1848.
The oldest building in the city of Canberra
is the picturesque St John the Baptist Anglican Church
in Reid, consecrated in 1845. This church long pre-dates the city of Canberra and is not so much representative of urban design as it is of the Bush
chapels which dot the Australian landscape and stretch even into the far Outback
, such as that which can be found at the Lutheran Mission Chapel at Hermannsburg
in the Northern Territory
. A rare Australian example of Spanish missionary style exists at New Norcia, Western Australia
. Founded by Spanish Benedictine
monks in 1846.
A number of notable Victorian
era chapels and edifices were also constructed at church schools across Australia.
Along with community attitudes to religion, church architecture changed significantly during the 20th century. Urban churches such as that at the Wayside Chapel
(1964) in Sydney differed markedly from traditional ecclesiastical designs. St Monica's Cathedral in Cairns was designed by architect Ian Ferrier and built in 1967-68 following the form of the original basilica
model of the early churches of Rome, adapted to a tropical climate and to reflect the changes to Catholic liturgy
mandated at Vatican 2. The cathedral was dedicated as a memorial to the Battle of the Coral Sea
which was fought east of Cairns in May 1942. The "Peace Window" stained glass was installed on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II
.
In the later 20th century, distinctly Australian approaches were applied at places such as Jambaroo Benedictine Abbey, where natural materials were chosen to "harmonise with the local environment". The chapel sanctuary is of glass overlooking rainforest. Similar design principles were applied at Thredbo Ecumenical Chapel built in the Snowy Mountains
in 1996.
founded one of the world's first ever movie studios in Melbourne
in the 1890s: the Limelight Department
. First filming A Melbourne Street Scene in 1897, they went on to make large scale Christian themed audio-visual presentations such as Soldiers of the Cross in 1900, and documented the Australian Federation ceremonies of 1901.
Australian films on Christian themes have included:
, Dan Sweetman
, and Guy Sebastian
.
Father Bob Maguire and Reverend Gordon Moyes
have hosted radio programs.
Coverage of religion is part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
's Charter obligation to reflect the character and diversity of the Australian community. Its religious programs include coverage of worship and devotion, explanation, analysis, debate and reports.
Catholic Church Television Australia is an office with the Australian Catholic Office for Film & Broadcasting and develops television programs for Aurora Community Television
on Foxtel
and Austar
in Australia.
by renowned Australian poet Banjo Paterson
which makes light of the sparsity of Christian preachers and houses of worship on the Australian frontier, beginning:
Nevetheless, the body of literature produced by Australian Christians is extensive. During colonial times, the Benedictine
missionary William Ullathorne
(1806–1889) was a notable essayist writing against the Convict Transportation system. Later Cardinal Moran (1830–1911), a noted historian, wrote a History of the Catholic Church in Australasia. More recent Catholic histories of Australian include The Catholic Church and Community in Australia (1977) by Patrick O'Farrell
and Australian Catholics (1987), by Edmund Campion.
Notable Christian poets have included Christopher Brennan
(1870–1932), James McAuley
(1917–1976), Bruce Dawe
(born 1930) and Les Murray
(born 1938). Murray and Dawe are among Australia's formemost contemporary poets, noted for their use of vernacular and everyday Australian themes. Emblematic of the Christian poets could be McCauley's rejection of Modernism
in favour of Classical culture:
Australian literature for a long time assumed knowledge of Biblical stories, even where works of literature are not overtly Christian in character. The writings of great 20th century authors like Manning Clark
or Patrick White
are therefore filled with allusions to biblical or Christian themes.
Many Australian writers have examined the lives of Christian characters, or have influenced by Christian educations. Best selling author Tim Winton
.s early novel That Eye, the Sky
tells the story of a family's conversion to Christianity in the face of tragedy. Australia's best selling novel of all time, The Thornbirds, by Colleen McCullough
writes of the temptations encountered by a priest living in the Outback.
Many contemporary Australian writers including Peter Carey and Robert Hughes
; leading screen writers Nick Enright
, Bruce Beresford
, Peter Weir
, Santo Cilauro
and Tom Gleisner
; and notable poets and authors like Kenneth Slessor
, Helen Garner
and Gerard Windsor
attended Anglican, Presbyterian or Catholic schools in Australia.
In 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard
, an atheist, said that it was important for Australians to have knowledge of the Bible, on the basis that "what comes from the Bible has formed such an important part of our culture. It's impossible to understand Western literature without having that key of understanding the Bible stories and how Western literature builds on them and reflects them and deconstructs them and brings them back together."
art works, as can be seen at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
and St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
. Rupert Bunny
(1864–1947), one of the first Australian painters to gain international fame, often painted Christian themes (see Annunciation, 1893). Roy de Maistre
(1894–1968) was an Australian abstract artist who obtained renown in Britain, converted to Catholicism and painted notable religious works, including a series of Stations of the Cross
for Westminster Cathedral
. Among the most acclaimed of Australian painters of Christian themes was Arthur Boyd
. Influenced by both the European masters and the Heidelberg School
of Australian landscape art, he placed the central characters of the bible within Australian bush scenery, as in his portrait of Adam and Eve
, The Expulsion (1948). Artist Leonard French
, who designed a stained glass ceiling of the National Gallery of Victoria
, has drawn heavily on Christian story and symbolism through his career.
From the 1970s, Australian Aboriginal artists of the Western Desert began to paint traditional style artworks in acrylic paints. This distinctively Australian style of painting has been fused with biblical themes to produce a uniquely Australian contribution to the long history of Christian art
: integrating the mysterious dot designs and evocative circular patterns of traditional Aboriginal art with popular Christian subjects.
The Blake Prize for Religious Art
was established in 1951 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art in Australia and was named after the artist and poet William Blake
.
of British settlers in 1788 and has grown to include all genres from traditional Hymns of Praise to Christian Rock
and Country Music
. St Mary's Cathedral Choir, Sydney
is the oldest musical institution in Australia, from origins in 1817. Major recording artists from Johnny O'Keefe
(the first Australian Rock and Roll star) to Paul Kelly
(folk rock), Nick Cave
(the critically acclaimed brooding rocker) and Slim Dusty
(the King of Australian country music
) have all recorded Christian themed songs. Other performing artists such as Catholic nun Sister Janet Mead
, Aboriginal crooner Jimmy Little
and Australian Idol
contestant Guy Sebastian
have held Christianity as central to their public persona.
Church music also ranges widely across genres, from Melbourne's St Paul's Cathedral Choir
who sing choral evensong most weeknights; to the Contemporary music that is a feature of the evangelical Hillsong congregation. The Ntaria Choir at Hermannsburg
, Northern Territory
, has a unique musical language which mixes the traditional vocals of the Ntaria Aboriginal women with Lutheran chorales (tunes that were the basis of much of Bach
's music). Baba Waiyar, a popular traditional Torres Strait Islander hymn shows the influence of gospel music
mixed with traditionally strong Torres Strait Islander vocals and country music
.
Annually, Australians gather in large numbers for traditional open-air Christmas music Carols by Candlelight concerts in December, such as the Carols by Candlelight
of Melbourne, and Sydney's Carols in the Domain
. Australian Christmas carols like the Three Drovers or Christmas Day by John Wheeler
and William G. James
place the Christmas story firmly in an Australian context of warm, dry Christmas winds and red dust.
New South Wales Supreme Court Judge George Palmer was commissioned to compose the setting of the Mass for Sydney's World Youth Day 2008
Papal Mass. The Mass, Benedictus Qui Venit, for large choir, soloists and orchestra, was performed in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI
and an audience of 350,000 with singing led by soprano Amelia Farrugia and tenor Andrew Goodwin
. "Receive the Power
" a song written by Guy Sebastian and Gary Pinto
was chosen as official anthem for the XXIII World Youth Day
(WYD08) held in Sydney in 2008.
and the Uniting Church in Australia
. Pentecostal
churches are growing, with megachurch
es predominantly associated with Australian Christian Churches
(the Assemblies of God
in Australia), being found in most states (for example, Hillsong Church
and Paradise Community Church
).
analysed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
, 12,685,829 or 63.9% of the population self-declared as Christians.
which researches weekly church attendance
among other items through a survey done in over 7000 congregations in many but not all Christian denominations every Australian Census year and from that estimates figures for those denominations nationally.
From the survey about 8.8% of the Australian population attended a church in one of the covered denominations in a given week in 2001.
The Roman Catholic Church represents the highest number of church attenders, with over 50 percent. Whilst church attendance is generally decreasing the Roman Catholic Church attendance in Australia is declining at a rate of 13 percent. Pentecostal denominations such as Australian Christian Churches
(formerly Assemblies of God) and Christian City Churches
continue to grow rapidly, growing by over 20 per cent between 1991 and 1996. Some Protestant denominations such as the Baptist Union of Australia
and the Churches of Christ in Australia
grew at a smaller rate, less than 10 per cent, between 1991 and 1996.
, the term Bible Belt
has been used to refer to areas within individual cities, for example the north-western suburbs of Sydney
focusing on Baulkham Hills and the north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide
focusing on Paradise
, Modbury
and Golden Grove
, though there is also a section of south-eastern Queensland
comprising the towns of Laidley
, Gatton
and Toowoomba which is referred to as the Bible Belt.
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
is the largest religion listed by Australians in the national census. In the 2006 Census, 63.9% of Australians were listed as Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
. Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
has no official state religion and the Australian Constitution protects freedom of religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
. The presence of Christianity in Australia began with the arrival of the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
of British convicts in 1788. The religion grew to account for 96.1% of the national population at the time of the Federation of Australia
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
in 1901. The Anglican Church of Australia
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
(formerly known as the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
) remained the largest denomination until 1986, when it was surpassed by the Roman Catholic Church in Australia. Post-war multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
and a decline in religious observance among some sections of the population have diversified the demographics of Religion in Australia
Religion in Australia
In the 21st century, religion in Australia is demographically dominated by Christianity, with 64% of the population claiming at least nominal adherence to the Christian faith as of 2007, although less than a quarter of those attend church weekly. 18.7% of Australians declared "no-religion" on the...
.
Of the roughly 64% identifying as Christian in 2006, the largest proportions were either Roman Catholic (25.8%) or Anglican (18.7%), with the third largest group being the 5.7% affiliated with the Uniting Church in Australia
Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....
. Post-war immigration has grown the numbers belonging to churches like the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.- Archbishop of Australia...
and there are small but growing Pentecostal groups, such as Sydney's Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch affiliated with Australian Christian Churches and located in Sydney, Australia. The church's senior pastors, Brian and Bobbie Houston, began the church in 1983 as the Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills...
. The festivals of Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
and Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
are public holidays in Australia. Around a quarter of students attend church schools and Christian organisations are leading non-government providers of health and welfare services through organisations like Catholic Health Australia
Catholic Health Australia
Catholic Health Australia operates 75 hospitals and 550 residential and community aged care services and comprises Australia's largest non-government not-for-profit grouping of health and aged care services...
, Anglicare
Anglicare
Anglicare Australia is the national umbrella community services body of agencies associated with each diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia....
, UnitingCare Australia
UnitingCare Australia
UnitingCare Australia is the Uniting Church in Australia's umbrella community services body. UnitingCare Australia is committed to values based advocacy, speaking with and on behalf of those who are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, for the common good.It is a sister body to UnitingJustice...
, the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
and St Vincent de Paul Society.
Historically significant Australian Christians have included Saint Mary MacKillop, Catherine Helen Spence
Catherine Helen Spence
Catherine Helen Spence was a Scottish-born Australian author, teacher, journalist, politician and leading suffragette. In 1897 she became Australia's first female political candidate after standing for the Federal Convention held in Adelaide...
, Pastor David Unaipon
David Unaipon
David Unaipon was an Australian Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. He was the most widely known Aboriginal in Australia, and broke stereotypes of Aboriginals...
, the Reverend John Flynn
John Flynn (minister)
John Flynn OBE was an Australian Presbyterian minister who founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the world's first air ambulance.-Biography:...
and Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls. High profile contemporary Australian Christians include: Tim Costello
Tim Costello
Timothy Ewen Costello AO is a prominent Baptist minister and current CEO of World Vision Australia.He is an "Australian Living Treasure". He is the brother of former treasurer of Australia and Federal Member for Higgins Peter Costello....
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister and current CEO of World Vision Australia, Frank Brennan, Jesuit human rights lawyer, Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
George Pell
George Pell
George Pell AC is an Australian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the eighth and current Archbishop of Sydney, serving since 2001. He previously served as auxiliary bishop and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne...
, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Erected in 1842 and directly responsible to the Holy See, the Archdiocese is responsible for the suffragan dioceses of Armidale, Bathurst, Broken Bay, Lismore,...
, Phillip Aspinall
Phillip Aspinall
Phillip Aspinall has been the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia since February 2002 and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia since July 2005. He succeeded Peter Hollingworth as Archbishop of Brisbane....
the current Anglican Primate and Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Brisbane, Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, former Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
, and Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...
, leader for the Federal Opposition Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
.
History
Since time immemorial in Australia, indigenous people had performed the rites and rituals of the animist religion of the DreamtimeDreamtime
In the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
. Europeans had assumed the existence of a great southern land mass since ancient times. Among the first Catholics known to have sighted Australia were the crew of a Spanish expedition of 1605-6. In 1606, the expedition's leader, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros landed in the New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
and, believing it to be the fabled southern continent, he named the land: Austrialis del Espiritu Santo Southern Land of the Holy Spirit. Later that year, his deputy Luís Vaz de Torres
Luís Vaz de Torres
Luís Vaz de Torres , also Luis Váez de Torres in the Spanish spelling, was a 16th-17th century maritime explorer serving the Spanish Crown, noted for the first recorded navigation of the strait which separates the continent of Australia from the island of New Guinea, and which now bears his name...
sailed through Australia's Torres Strait
Torres Strait
The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...
.
The permanent presence of Christianity in Australia began with the arrival of the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. The Reverend Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson (chaplain)
Richard Johnson was the first Christian cleric in Australia.Johnson was the son of John and Mary Johnson. He was born in Welton, Yorkshire and educated at Hull Grammar School under Joseph Milner. In 1780 he entered Magdalene College, Cambridge as a sizar and graduated in 1784...
of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
was licensed as chaplain to the Fleet and the settlement. In early Colonial times, Church of England clergy worked closely with the governors
Governors of New South Wales
The Governor of New South Wales is the state viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is equally shared with 15 other sovereign nations in a form of personal union, as well as with the eleven other jurisdictions of Australia, and resides predominantly in her...
. Johnson was charged by the governor, Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
, with improving "public morality" in the colony, but he was also heavily involved in health and education. The Reverend Samuel Marsden
Samuel Marsden
Samuel Marsden was an English born Anglican cleric and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand...
(1765–1838) had magisterial
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
duties, and so was equated with the authorities by the convicts. He became known as the 'flogging parson' for the severity of his punishments Some of the Irish convicts had been transported to Australia for political crimes or social rebellion in Ireland, so the authorities were suspicious of Catholicism for the first three decades of settlement and Catholic convicts were compelled to attend Church of England services and their children and orphans were raised by the authorities as Anglicans.
One-tenth of all the convicts who came to Australia on the First Fleet were Catholic, and at least half of them were born in Ireland. A small proportion of British marines were also Catholic. Other groups were also represented, for example, among the Tolpuddle martyrs
Tolpuddle Martyrs
The Tolpuddle Martyrs were a group of 19th century Dorset agricultural labourers who were arrested for and convicted of swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. The rules of the society show it was clearly structured as a friendly society and operated as...
were a number of Methodists
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
.
It was the crew of the French explorer La Pérouse
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...
who conducted the first Catholic ceremony on Australian soil in 1788 - the burial of Father Louis Receveur
Louis Receveur
Claude-Francois Joseph Louis Receveur was a French Franciscan priest, naturalist and astronomer who sailed with Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse....
, a Franciscan monk, who died while the ships were at anchor at Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
, while on a mission to explore the Pacific. The first Catholic priest colonists arrived in Australia as convicts in 1800 - James Harold, James Dixon
James Dixon
James Dixon was a United States Representative and Senator from Connecticut.-Biography:Born in Enfield, Connecticut, Dixon pursued preparatory studies, and graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1834, where he had been a charter member of The Kappa Alpha Society. He was...
and Peter O'Neill, who had been convicted for "complicity" in the Irish 1798 Rebellion. Fr Dixon was conditionally emancipated and permitted to celebrate Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
. On 15 May 1803, in vestments made from curtains and with a chalice made of tin he conducted the first Catholic Mass in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. The Irish led Castle Hill Rebellion of 1804 alarmed the British authorities and Dixon's permission to celebrate Mass was revoked. Fr Jeremiah Flynn, an Irish Cistercian, was appointed as Prefect Apostolic of New Holland
New Holland (Australia)
New Holland is a historic name for the island continent of Australia. The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman as Nova Hollandia, naming it after the Dutch province of Holland, and remained in use for 180 years....
and set out from Britain for the colony uninvited. Watched by authorities, Flynn secretly performed priestly duties before being arrested and deported to London. Reaction to the affair in Britain led to two further priests being allowed to travel to the colony in 1820 - John Joseph Therry
John Joseph Therry
Father John Therry was an Irish, early Roman Catholic priest in Sydney, Australia.-Early Life:Therry was born in Cork and was privately educated at St Patrick's College at Carlow, and in 1815 was ordained as a priest. He did parish work in Dublin and later on was secretary to the bishop of Cork...
and Philip Connolly
Philip Connolly
Philip George Connolly was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.He represented the Dunedin West electorate from 1943 to 1946, and then the Dunedin Central electorate from 1946 to 1963: when he retired....
. The foundation stone for the first St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. The cathedral is dedicated to "Mary, Help of Christians", Patron of Australia...
was laid on 29 October 1821 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
.
The absence of a Catholic mission in Australia before 1818 reflected the legal disabilities of Catholics in Britain and the difficult position of Ireland within the British Empire. The government therefore endorsed the English Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
s to lead the early church in the colony. William Bernard Ullathorne
William Bernard Ullathorne
William Bernard Ullathorne was an English Roman Catholic bishop and a missionary in Australia.-Early life:William Ullathorne was born in Pocklington, Yorkshire, the eldest of ten children of William Ullathorne, a prosperous grocer, draper and spirit merchant, and his wife Hannah, née Longstaff...
(1806–1889) was instrumental in influencing Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
to establish the hierarchy in Australia. Ullathorne was in Australia from 1833-1836 as vicar-general to Bishop William Morris (1794–1872), whose jurisdiction extended over the Australian missions.
The Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
lost its legal privileges in the Colony of New South Wales by the Church Act of 1836. Drafted by the Catholic attorney-general John Plunkett
John Plunkett
John Hubert Plunkett was Attorney-General of New South Wales and elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly.-Early life:...
, the act established legal equality for Anglicans, Catholics and Presbyterians and was later extended to Methodists. Nevertheless, social attitudes were slow to change. Laywoman Caroline Chisholm
Caroline Chisholm
Caroline Chisholm was a progressive 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her involvement with female immigrant welfare in Australia. She is commemorated on 16 May in the Calendar of saints of the Church of England...
(1808–1877) faced discouragements and anti-Catholic feeling when she sought to establish a migrant women's shelter and worked for women's welfare in the colonies in the 1840s, though her humanitarian efforts later won her fame in England and great influence in achieving support for families in the colony.
John Bede Polding, a Benedictine monk, was Sydney's first Catholic bishop (and then archbishop) from 1835 to 1877. Polding requested a community of nuns be sent to the colony and five Irish Sisters of Charity
Sisters of Charity of Australia
The Sisters of Charity of Australia is a congregation of Roman Catholic women religious who have served the people of Australia since 1838...
arrived in 1838. The sisters set about pastoral care in a women's prison and began visiting hospitals and schools and establishing employment for convict women. The sisters went on to establish hospitals in four of the eastern states, beginning with St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
St Vincent's Public Hospital, Sydney is located in the inner city suburb of Darlinghurst. Though part of the New South Wales state public health system it remains under the auspices of the Sisters of Charity.-History:...
in 1857 as a free hospital for all people, but especially for the poor. At Polding's request, the Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
arrived in Sydney in 1843 to assist in schools. In 1857, Polding founded an Australian order of nuns in the Benedictine tradition - the Sisters of the Good Samaritan
Sisters of the Good Samaritan
The Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan is a Roman Catholic Congregation of religious women commenced by , Australia’s first Catholic bishop, in Sydney in 1857. The congregation was the first religious congregation to be founded in Australia. The sisters form an apostolic institute...
- to work in education and social work. While Polding was in office, construction began on the ambitious Gothic Revival designs for St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Patrick's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Denis J. Hart. The building is known internationally as a leading example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture.In 1974 Pope Paul VI...
and the final St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney.
Since the 19th century immigrants have included a broad range of Christian denominations and many of these now operate autonomously from the overseas founding denominations. Immigrants brought their own expressions of Christianity with them, particular examples are the Lutherans from Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
who tended to settle in the Barossa Valley
Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley is a major wine-producing region and tourist destination of South Australia, located 60 km northeast of Adelaide. It is the valley formed by the North Para River, and the Barossa Valley Way is the main road through the valley, connecting the main towns on the valley floor of...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Methodists
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
in South Australia, with notable pockets coming from Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
to work the copper mines in Moonta
Moonta, South Australia
Moonta is a town located on the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia, 165 kilometres north-northwest of the state capital of Adelaide. It is one of three towns known as the Copper Coast or "Little Cornwall" for their shared copper mining history....
. Other groups included the Presbyterian, Congregationalist
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
and Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
churches. Establishing themselves first at Sevenhill, in the newly established colony of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
in 1848, the Jesuits were the first religious order of priests to enter and establish houses in South Australia, Victoria, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
. While the Austrian Jesuits traverssed the Outback on horseback to found missions and schools, Irish Jesuits arrived in the east in 1860 and had by 1880 established the major schools which survive to the present.
In 1885, Patrick Francis Moran became Australia's first cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
. Moran believed that Catholics' political and civil rights were threatened in Australia and, in 1896, saw deliberate discrimination in a situation where "no office of first, or even second, rate importance is held by a Catholic".
With the withdrawal of state aid for church schools around 1880, the Catholic Church, unlike other Australian churches, put great energy and resources into creating a comprehensive alternative system of education. It was largely staffed by nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s, brothers and priests of religious orders, such as the Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
(who had returned to Australia in 1868); the Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
(who had arrived in Perth in 1846); Marist Brothers
Marist Brothers
The Marist Brothers, or Little Brothers of Mary, are a Catholic religious order of brothers and affiliated lay people. The order was founded in France, at La Valla-en-Gier near Lyon in 1817 by Saint Marcellin Champagnat, a young French priest of the Society of Mary...
, who came from France in 1872 and the Sisters of St Joseph
Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart
The Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites , were founded in Penola, South Australia in 1866 by Mary MacKillop and Father Julian Tenison Woods....
, founded in Australia by Saint Mary MacKillop and Fr Julian Tenison Woods
Julian Tenison Woods
Julian Edmund Tenison Woods was an English Roman Catholic priest and geologist, active in Australia. With Saint Mary MacKillop, he helped to found the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart at Penola in 1866....
in 1867. MacKillop travelled throughout Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
and established schools, convents and charitable institutions but came into conflict with those bishops who preferred diocesan control of the order rather than central control from Adelaide by the Josephite order. MacKillop administered the Josephites as a national order at a time when Australia was divided among individually governed colonies. She is today the most revered of Australian Catholics, canonised by Benedict XVI in 2010.
Also from Britain came the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
(called "Salvos" in Australia), which had been established in the slums of East London in 1865 to minister to the impoverished outcasts of the city. The first Salvation Army meeting in Australia was held in 1880. Edward Saunders and John Gore led the meeting from the back of a greengrocer's cart in Adelaide Botanic Park with an offer of food for those who had not eaten. The Salvos also involved themeselves in finding work for the unemployed and in re-uniting families. In Melbourne from 1897 to 1910, The Army's Limelight Department
Limelight Department
The Limelight Department was one of the world's first film studios, beginning in 1898, operated by The Salvation Army in Melbourne, Australia. The Limelight Department produced evangelistic material for use by the Salvation Army, including lantern slides as early as 1891, as well as private and...
was established as Australia's first film production company. From such diverse activities, The Salvos have grown to be one of Australia's most respected charitable organisations, with a 2009 survey by Sweeney Research and the advertising group Grey Global finding the Salvation Army and the nation's Ambulance Service to be Australia's most trusted entities. Australia's George Carpenter was General of the Salvation Army
Generals of The Salvation Army
thumbnail|left|1st General, William BoothGeneral is the title of the international leader of The Salvation Army, a Christian denomination with extensive charitable social services that gives quasi-military rank to its ministers .Usage of the term General began with the Founder of The Salvation...
(worldwide leader) from 1939–1946 and Eva Burrows during the 1980s and 1990s.
Section 116 of the Australian Constitution of 1901 provided for freedom of religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
. With the exception of the indigenous population, descendants of gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
migrants and a small but significant Lutheran population of German descent, Australian society was predominantly Anglo-Celtic, with 40% of the population being Anglican, 23% Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church in Australia
The Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Pope.Australia is a majority Christian but pluralistic society with no established religion. There are approximately 5.1 million Australian Catholics . Catholicism...
, 34% other Christian and about 1% professing non-Christian religions. The first census in 1911 showed 96.1 percent identified themselves as Christian.
Sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
in Australia tended to reflect the political inheritance of Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Until 1945, the vast majority of Catholics in Australia were of Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
descent, causing the Anglo-Protestant majority to question their loyalty to the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Anglicanism remained the largest Christian denomination
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
until the 1986 census. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the ethnic and cultural mix of Australia diversified and Anglicanism gave way to Catholicism as the largest denomination. The number of Anglicans attending regular worship began to decline in 1959 and figures for occasional services (baptisms, confirmations, weddings and funerals) started to decline after 1966.
White Australia policy
The White Australia policy comprises various historical policies that intentionally restricted "non-white" immigration to Australia. From origins at Federation in 1901, the polices were progressively dismantled between 1949-1973....
, helped to reshape the profile of Australia's religious affiliations over subsequent decades. The impact of migration from Europe in the aftermath of World War II led to increases in affiliates of the Orthodox
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
Churches, the establishment of Reformed bodies, growth in the number of Catholics (largely from Italian migration) and Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
(Holocaust survivors), and the creation of ethnic parishes among many other denominations. More recently (post-1970s), immigration from South-East Asia and the Middle East has expanded Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
numbers considerably and increased the ethnic diversity of existing Christian denominations.
Russian sailors visiting Sydney celebrated the Divine Liturgy as long ago as 1820 and a Greek Orthodox population emerged from the mid 19th Century. The Greeks of Sydney and Melbourne had a priest by 1896 and the first Greek Orthodox Church was opened at Surry Hills in Sydney in 1898. In 1924, the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand was established under the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Greek immigration increased considerably following World War II and the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand was elevated to Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.- Archbishop of Australia...
and Metropolitan Ezekiel was appointed Archbishop in 1959. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited Australia in November 1996.
In the 1970s, the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches in Australia united to form the Uniting Church in Australia
Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....
. The Church remains prominent in welfare services, and noted for its innovative ministry initiatives such as those pioneered at centres like Sydney's Wayside Chapel
Wayside Chapel
The Wayside Chapel is a ministry in the Kings Cross/Potts Point area of Sydney, Australia.-Description and history:The Wayside Chapel was established in the Kings Cross area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1964. Ted Noffs was the founder of the Wayside Chapel, which was at the time a...
in King's Cross.
1970 saw the first visit to Australia by a Pope, Paul VI. Pope John Paul II was the next Pope to visit Australia in 1986. At Alice Springs, the Pope made an historic address to indigenous Australians, in which he praised the enduring qualities of Aboriginal culture, lamented the effects of dispossession of and discrimination; called for acknowledgment of Aboriginal land rights and reconciliation in Australia; and said that the Church in Australia would not reach its potential until Aboriginal people had made their "contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others". In July 2008, Sydney hosted the massive youth festival led by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
. Around 500,000 welcomed the pope to Sydney and 270,000 watched the Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
. More than 300,000 pilgrims camped out overnight in preparation for the final Mass., where final attendance was between 300,000 and 400,000 people.
In recent times, the Christian churches of Australia have been active in ecumenical activity. The Australian Committee for the World Council of Churches was established in 1946 by the Anglican and mainline Protestant churches. The movement evolved and expanded with Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches later joining and by 1994 the Catholic Church was also a member of the national ecumenical body, the National Council of Churches in Australia
National Council of Churches in Australia
The National Council of Churches in Australia is an ecumenical organisation bringing together a number of Australia's Christian Churches in dialogue and practical cooperation.It works in collaboration with state ecumenical councils around Australia...
.
Percentage of population since 1901
| Census year | Anglican % | Catholic % | Other Christian % | Total Christian % | Total population counted '000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 39.7 | 22.7 | 33.7 | 96.1 | 3 773.8 |
| 1911 | 38.4 | 22.4 | 35.1 | 95.9 | 4 455.0 |
| 1921 | 43.7 | 21.7 | 31.6 | 96.9 | 5 435.7 |
| 1933 | 38.7 | 19.6 | 28.1 | 86.4 | 6 629.8 |
| 1947 | 39.0 | 20.9 | 28.1 | 88.0 | 7 579.4 |
| 1954 | 37.9 | 22.9 | 28.5 | 89.4 | 8 986.5 |
| 1961 | 34.9 | 24.9 | 28.4 | 88.3 | 10 508.2 |
| 1966 | 33.5 | 26.2 | 28.5 | 88.2 | 11 599.5 |
| 1971 | 31.0 | 27.0 | 28.2 | 86.2 | 12 755.6 |
| 1976 | 27.7 | 25.7 | 25.2 | 78.6 | 13 548.4 |
| 1981 | 26.1 | 26.0 | 24.3 | 76.4 | 14 576.3 |
| 1986 | 23.9 | 26.0 | 23.0 | 73.0 | 15 602.2 |
| 1991 | 23.8 | 27.3 | 22.9 | 74.0 | 16 850.3 |
| 1996 | 22.0 | 27.0 | 21.9 | 70.9 | 17 752.8 |
| 2001 | 20.7 | 26.6 | 20.7 | 68.0 | 18 769.2 |
| 2006 | 18.7 | 25.8 | 19.3 | 63.9 | 19 855.3 |
Data for table from Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Indigenous Australians and Christianity
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
, their religion and their culture. As in many colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
situations the churches both facilitated the loss of Indigenous Australian culture and religion and also facilitated its maintenance. The involvement of Christians in Aboriginal affairs has evolved singnificantly since 1788. Around the year 2000, many Churches and Church organisations officially apologised for past failures to adequately respect indigenous cultures and address the injustices of the dispossession of indigenous people.
Christian missionaries attempted to convert
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
Indigenous people to Christianity. The Presbyterian Church of Australia
Presbyterian Church of Australia
The Presbyterian Church of Australia is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. .-Beginnings:...
’s Australian Inland Mission
Australian Inland Mission
The Australian Presbyterian Mission was founded by the Presbyterian Church of Australia to reach those "beyond the farthest fence" with God's Word. It is better known as the Australian Inland Mission . Rev...
and the Lutheran
Lutheran Church of Australia
The Lutheran Church of Australia is the major Lutheran denomination in Australia, it also has a presence in New Zealand. It has 320 parishes, 540 congregations, 70,000 baptized members in Australia, 1,130 baptized members in New Zealand, 52,463 communicant members and 450 active pastors. Its...
mission at Hermannsburg, Northern Territory
Hermannsburg, Northern Territory
Hermannsburg is an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory of Australia, 131 km southwest of Alice Springs. It is known in the local Western Arrernte language as Ntaria....
being examples. Many missionaries often studied Aboriginal society from an Anthropological
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
perspective. Missionaries have made significant contributions to anthropological and linguistic understanding of Indigenous Australians and aspects of Christian services have been adapted when there is Aboriginal involvement - even masses during Papal visits to Australia will include traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremonies
Smoking ceremony
A smoking ceremony is an ancient custom among Indigenous Australians that involves smoldering various native plants to produce smoke which they believe has cleansing properties and the ability to ward off bad spirits....
. It was the practice of some Missions to enforce a 'forgetting' of Aboriginal culture. Others, like Fr Kevin McKelson of Broome
Broome, Western Australia
Broome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,436, growing to more than 45,000 per month during the tourist season...
encouraged aboriginal culture and language while also promoting the merits of western style education in the 1960s.
Prominent Aboriginal activist Noel Pearson, himself raised at a Lutheran mission in Cape York
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...
, has written that missions throughout Australia's colonial history "provided a haven from the hell of life on the Australian frontier while at the same time facilitating colonisation".
In the Torres Strait Islands
Torres Strait Islands
The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands which lie in Torres Strait, the waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea but Torres Strait Island known and Recognize as Nyumaria.The islands are mostly part of...
, the Coming of the Light Festival marks the day the Christian missionaries first arrived on the islands on 1 July 1871 and introduced Christianity to the region. This is a significant festival for Torres Strait Islanders, who are predominantly Christian. Religious and cultural ceremonies are held across Torres Strait and mainland Australia.
Prominent Aboriginal Christians have included Pastor David Unaipon
David Unaipon
David Unaipon was an Australian Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. He was the most widely known Aboriginal in Australia, and broke stereotypes of Aboriginals...
, the first Aboriginal author; Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls
Douglas Nicholls
Sir Douglas Ralph "Doug" Nicholls KCVO, OBE, was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation.Nicholls was the first Aboriginal person to...
, athlete, activist and former Governor of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
; Mum (Shirl) Smith
Mum (Shirl) Smith
Shirley Smith , better known as Mum Shirl, was a prominent Aboriginal Australian and activist committed to justice and welfare of Aboriginal Australians...
, a celebrated Redfern
Redfern, New South Wales
Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Redfern is 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...
community worker who, assisted by the Sisters of Charity
Sisters of Charity of Australia
The Sisters of Charity of Australia is a congregation of Roman Catholic women religious who have served the people of Australia since 1838...
, worked in the courts and organised prison visitations, medical and social assistance for Aborigines, and former Senator Aden Ridgeway
Aden Ridgeway
Aden Derek Ridgeway , Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales, from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australian Democrats. During his term he was the only Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament.-Early history:Ridgeway was born in Macksville, New South...
, the first Chairman of the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry. The Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, associated with the Uniting Church of Australia, is an organisation developed and managed by Indigenous people to "provide spiritual, social and economic pathways for Australia's First People".
In recent times, Christians like Fr Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy (priest)
-Early life and ordination:Ted Kennedy was known throughout Australia as the priest of St Vincent’s Roman Catholic church in the Sydney inner-city suburb of Redfern. He arrived there in 1971, appointed to head a team ministry by the then Archbishop of Sydney James Freeman . He served also as...
of Redfern, Jesuit human rights lawyer Fr Frank Brennan and the Josephite Sisters
Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart
The Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites , were founded in Penola, South Australia in 1866 by Mary MacKillop and Father Julian Tenison Woods....
have been prominent in working for Aboriginal rights and improvements to standards of living.
History
Christian charitable organisations, hospitals and schools have played a prominent role in welfare and education since Colonial times, when the First FleetFirst Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
's Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
chaplain, Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson (chaplain)
Richard Johnson was the first Christian cleric in Australia.Johnson was the son of John and Mary Johnson. He was born in Welton, Yorkshire and educated at Hull Grammar School under Joseph Milner. In 1780 he entered Magdalene College, Cambridge as a sizar and graduated in 1784...
, was credited as "the physician both of soul and body" during the famine of 1790 and was charged with general supervision of schools. The Catholic laywoman Caroline Chisolm helped single migrant women and rescued homeless girls in Sydney. In his welcoming address to the Catholic World Youth Day 2008
World Youth Day 2008
The 23rd World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was decided by Pope Benedict XVI, during the Cologne...
in Sydney the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, said that Christianity had been a positive influence on Australia: "It was the church that began first schools for the poor, it was the church that began first hospitals for the poor, it was the church that began first refuges for the poor and these great traditions continue for the future."
Welfare
A number of Christian denominations are significant national providers of social welfare services (including residential aged careElderly care
Elderly care or simply eldercare is the fulfillment of the special needs and requirements that are unique to senior citizens. This broad term encompasses such services as assisted living, adult day care, long term care, nursing homes, hospice care, and In-Home care.-Cultural and geographic...
and the Job Network
Job Network
Job Services Australia is an Australian Government-funded network of organisations that is contracted by the Australian Government, through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations , to deliver employment services to unemployed job seekers on Government income...
) and education
Education in Australia
Education in Australia is primarily the responsibility of the states and territories. Each state or territory government provides funding and regulates the public and private schools within its governing area. The federal government helps fund the public universities, but is not involved in setting...
. These include:
- The Salvation ArmySalvation ArmyThe Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
- The Uniting Church of Australia does extensive community work in aged care, hospitals, nursing, family support services, youth services and with the homeless. Services include UnitingCare AustraliaUnitingCare AustraliaUnitingCare Australia is the Uniting Church in Australia's umbrella community services body. UnitingCare Australia is committed to values based advocacy, speaking with and on behalf of those who are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, for the common good.It is a sister body to UnitingJustice...
, Exodus Foundation, the Wesley MissionWesley MissionWesley Mission is a name used by several Uniting Church congregations which are a part the Uniting Missions Network of UnitingCare Australia. Wesley Missions grew out of the inner city missions of the pre-union Methodist Church of Australasia...
s and Lifeline counseling. - The Anglican Church of AustraliaAnglican Church of AustraliaThe Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
has organisations working in education, health, missionary work, social welfare and communications. Organisations include AnglicareAnglicareAnglicare Australia is the national umbrella community services body of agencies associated with each diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia....
and the Samaritans - The Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church in AustraliaThe Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Pope.Australia is a majority Christian but pluralistic society with no established religion. There are approximately 5.1 million Australian Catholics . Catholicism...
: Catholic Social Services AustraliaCatholic Social Services AustraliaCatholic Social Services Australia is a welfare organisation that advances the social service ministry of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia. It is the Catholic Church's peak body for social services in Australia and has 70 member organisations in metropolitan, regional and remote Australia...
is the church’s peak national body. Its 63 member organisations help more than a million Australians each year. Catholic organisations include: Centacare, Caritas AustraliaCaritas (charity)Caritas Internationalis is a confederate of 164 Roman Catholic relief, development and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide....
, Jesuit Refugee ServiceJesuit Refugee ServiceThe Jesuit Refugee Service is an international Catholic organization that aids refugees, forcibly displaced peoples, and asylum seekers. JRS operates at national and regional levels. Founded in November, 1980 as a work of the Society of Jesus, JRS was officially registered on March 19, 2000 in...
, St Vincent de Paul Society, Youth Off the StreetsChris Riley (Priest)Father Chris Riley, AM is an Australian Roman Catholic priest who founded and is CEO of the charity Youth Off The Streets. He is a member of the Salesian order....
. Two religious orders founded in Australia which engaged in welfare and charity work are the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred HeartSisters of St Joseph of the Sacred HeartThe Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites , were founded in Penola, South Australia in 1866 by Mary MacKillop and Father Julian Tenison Woods....
and the Sisters of the Good SamaritanSisters of the Good SamaritanThe Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan is a Roman Catholic Congregation of religious women commenced by , Australia’s first Catholic bishop, in Sydney in 1857. The congregation was the first religious congregation to be founded in Australia. The sisters form an apostolic institute...
. Many international orders also work in welfare, such as the Little Sisters of the PoorLittle Sisters of the PoorThe Little Sisters of the Poor is a Roman Catholic religious order for women. It was founded in the 19th century by Saint Jeanne Jugan near Rennes, France. Jugan felt the need to care for the many impoverished elderly who lined the streets of French towns and cities.This led her to welcome an...
who work in aged care. - Hillsong ChurchHillsong ChurchHillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch affiliated with Australian Christian Churches and located in Sydney, Australia. The church's senior pastors, Brian and Bobbie Houston, began the church in 1983 as the Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills...
's Hillsong Emerge is a local example in Sydney, New South Wales. - The Baptist Church's Tim CostelloTim CostelloTimothy Ewen Costello AO is a prominent Baptist minister and current CEO of World Vision Australia.He is an "Australian Living Treasure". He is the brother of former treasurer of Australia and Federal Member for Higgins Peter Costello....
is CEO of World Vision Australia; other Christian humanitarian aidHumanitarian aidHumanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity...
organisations operating in Australia include: Christian Children's FundChristian Children's FundChildFund, formerly known as Christian Children's Fund and China's Children Fund, is an international child sponsorship group based in Richmond, Virginia, United States...
, Christian Blind Mission International; Mission AustraliaMission AustraliaMission Australia is a provider of family and community services throughout Australia. The organisation has at least 3200 staff, 1,000 volunteers and 300 services in every state and territory of Australia, and is one of the largest community organisations in the nation. It is currently headed by...
; St Luke'sSt Luke'sSt Luke's is an area in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London near the Barbican and Shoreditch. It takes its name from the church of St Luke's, on Old Street west of the tube station. The area extends north of the church to City Road and south to Finsbury Square and...
;
See: List of Not For Profit Organisations in Australia.
Health
Catholic Health AustraliaCatholic Health Australia
Catholic Health Australia operates 75 hospitals and 550 residential and community aged care services and comprises Australia's largest non-government not-for-profit grouping of health and aged care services...
is the largest non-government provider grouping of health, community and aged care services in Australia. They do not operate for profit. They range across the full spectrum of health services and represent about 10% of the health sector, employing 35,000 people.
Religious orders founded many of Australia's hospitals. The Irish Sisters of Charity
Sisters of Charity of Australia
The Sisters of Charity of Australia is a congregation of Roman Catholic women religious who have served the people of Australia since 1838...
order arrived in Sydney in 1838 and established St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
St Vincent's Public Hospital, Sydney is located in the inner city suburb of Darlinghurst. Though part of the New South Wales state public health system it remains under the auspices of the Sisters of Charity.-History:...
in 1857 as a free hospital for the poor. The sisters went on to found hospitals, hospices, research institutes and aged care facilities in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. At St Vincent's they trained leading surgeon Victor Chang
Victor Chang
Victor Peter Chang, AC , was a Chinese Australian cardiac surgeon and a pioneer of modern heart transplantation. Born in Shanghai to Australian-born Chinese parents, he grew up in Hong Kong before moving to Australia...
and opened Australia's first AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
clinic. In the 21st century, with more and more lay people involved in management, the sisters began collaborating with Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
hospitals in Melbourne and Sydney. Jointly the group operates four public hospitals, seven private hospitals and 10 aged care facilities.
The English Sisters of the Little Company of Mary
Sisters of the Little Company of Mary
The Little Company of Mary is a Roman Catholic religious institute of women dedicated to caring for the suffering, the sick and the dying. The order was founded in 1877 England by Venerable Mary Potter....
arrived in 1885 and have since established public and private hospitals, retirement living and residential aged care, community care and comprehensive palliative care in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
The Little Sisters of the Poor
Little Sisters of the Poor
The Little Sisters of the Poor is a Roman Catholic religious order for women. It was founded in the 19th century by Saint Jeanne Jugan near Rennes, France. Jugan felt the need to care for the many impoverished elderly who lined the streets of French towns and cities.This led her to welcome an...
, who follow the charism
Charism
In Christian theology, a charism in general denotes any good gift that flows from God's love to man. The word can also mean any of the spiritual graces and qualifications granted to every Christian to perform his or her task in the Church...
of Saint Jeanne Jugan
Jeanne Jugan
Saint Jeanne Jugan , also known as Sister Mary of the Cross was born in Cancale in Brittany, France, the sixth of the eight children of Joseph and Marie Jugan. Her father died when she was very young and her mother raised this large family alone. When Jeanne was 16, she took a job as the kitchen...
to "offer hospitality to the needy aged" arrived in Melbourne in 1884 and now operate four aged care homes in Australia.
Another prodominant welfare agency is ADRA
Adra
Adra may refer to:places:*Adra, Spain – municipality in Almería , Andalusia*Adra, Purulia – town in the state of West Bengal, India*Adra, Syria – town approximately 40 km north of Damascus...
,(Advestist Development and Relief Agency). This welfare agency is a internationally recognized agency run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
. ADRA is opperational in more than 120 countries, around the world, providing relief and development, where ever needed. Within Australia they provide shelter, relief, and services to those in need. They have numerous refuges set up those suffering abuse, as well as shelters for those in need. As well many other things such as food distribution, op-shops etc. For more information visit http://www.adra.org.au/
The Reverend John Flynn
John Flynn (minister)
John Flynn OBE was an Australian Presbyterian minister who founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the world's first air ambulance.-Biography:...
, a minister of the Presbyterian Church founded what was to become the Royal Flying Doctor Service in 1928 in Cloncurry, Queensland, to bring health services to the isolated communities of the Australian Bush
The Bush
"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...
.
Education
There are substantial networks of Christian schools associated with the Christian denominations and also some that operate as parachurch organisationParachurch organization
Parachurch organizations are Christian faith-based organizations that work outside of and across denominations to engage in social welfare and evangelism, usually independent of church oversight. These bodies can be businesses, non-profit corporations, or private associations. Most parachurch...
s. The Catholic education
Catholic education in Australia
Catholic Education in Australia refers to the education services provided by the Roman Catholic Church in Australia within the Australian education system. From 19th century foundations, the Catholic education system has grown to be the second biggest sector after government schools in Australia,...
system is the second biggest sector after government schools and has more than 650,000 students and around 21 per cent of all secondary school enrolments. The Catholic Church has established primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions in Australia. The Anglican Church has around 145 schools in Australia
Anglican education in Australia
Anglican education in Australia refers to the education services provided by the Anglican Church of Australia within the Australian education system. Since the late 18th century, the Anglican Church has been an important provider of education services within Australia...
, providing for more than 105,000 children. The Uniting Church has around 48 schools.
Mary MacKillop
Mary MacKillop
Mary Helen MacKillop , also known as Saint Mary of the Cross, was an Australian Roman Catholic nun who, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australasia with an emphasis on...
was a 19th century Australian nun who founded an educational order, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart
Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart
The Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites , were founded in Penola, South Australia in 1866 by Mary MacKillop and Father Julian Tenison Woods....
, and has recently become the first Australian to be canonised as a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. Other Catholic religious orders involved in education in Australia have included: Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
, Marist Brothers
Marist Brothers
The Marist Brothers, or Little Brothers of Mary, are a Catholic religious order of brothers and affiliated lay people. The order was founded in France, at La Valla-en-Gier near Lyon in 1817 by Saint Marcellin Champagnat, a young French priest of the Society of Mary...
, Christian Brothers
Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools is a Roman Catholic religious teaching congregation, founded in France by Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle and now based in Rome...
, Benedictine Sisters
Benedictine Sisters
Benedictine Sisters may refer to any of the following Benedictine religious orders:*Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face*Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration*Benedictine Sisters of Elk County...
and Jesuits.
Church schools range from elite, high cost schools to low fee locally based schools. Denominations with networks of schools include:
Anglican
Roman Catholic
Uniting Church
Baptist
Eastern Orthodox
Lutheran
Nondenominational
The Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University is a national public university. It has six campuses and offers programs in five faculties throughout Australia.-History:...
opened in 1991 following the amalgamation of four Catholic tertiary institutions in eastern Australia. These institutions had their origins in the 19th century, when religious orders and institutes became involved in preparing teachers for Catholic schools and nurses for Catholic hospitals. The University of Notre Dame Australia
University of Notre Dame Australia
The University of Notre Dame Australia is a private Roman Catholic university established in 1989 in the Western Australian port city of Fremantle, . While the University of Notre Dame Australia has "strong collegial links" with the American University of Notre Dame located in Notre Dame, Indiana,...
opened in Western Australia in December 1989, and now has over 9000 students on three campuses in Fremantle, Sydney and Broome.
Politics
Church leaders have often involved themselves in political issues in areas they consider relevant to Christian teachings. In early Colonial times, Catholicism was restricted but Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
clergy worked closely with the governors. The Reverend Samuel Marsden
Samuel Marsden
Samuel Marsden was an English born Anglican cleric and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand...
had magisterial
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
duties and so was equated with the authorities by the convicts. He became known as the "floging parson" for the severity of his punishments. An early Catholic missionary, William Ullathorne
William Bernard Ullathorne
William Bernard Ullathorne was an English Roman Catholic bishop and a missionary in Australia.-Early life:William Ullathorne was born in Pocklington, Yorkshire, the eldest of ten children of William Ullathorne, a prosperous grocer, draper and spirit merchant, and his wife Hannah, née Longstaff...
, criticised the convict system, publishing a pamphlet, The Horrors of Transportation Briefly Unfolded to the People, in Britain in 1837. Australia's first Catholic cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
, Patrick Francis Moran (1830–1911), was politically active. As a proponent of Australian Federation he denounced anti-Chinese legislation as "unchristian"; became an advocate for women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
and alarmed conservatives by supporting trade unionism and "Australian socialism". Archbishop Daniel Mannix
Daniel Mannix
Daniel Mannix was an Irish-born Australian Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th century Australia....
of Melbourne was a controversial voice against conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and against British policy in Ireland.
Aboriginal pastors David Unaipon
David Unaipon
David Unaipon was an Australian Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. He was the most widely known Aboriginal in Australia, and broke stereotypes of Aboriginals...
and Sir Douglas Nicholls
Douglas Nicholls
Sir Douglas Ralph "Doug" Nicholls KCVO, OBE, was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation.Nicholls was the first Aboriginal person to...
, former Catholic priest Patrick Dodson
Patrick Dodson
Patrick Dodson is a Yawuru man from Broome, Western Australia, he is a former Chairman of the "Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation", a former Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and former Roman Catholic priest. He was the winner of the 2008 Sydney Peace Prize...
and Jesuit priest Frank Brennan have been high profile Christians engaged in the cause of Aboriginal rights.
The Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
had largely been supported by Catholics until prominent layman B. A. Santamaria
B. A. Santamaria
Bartholomew Augustine "B. A." Santamaria, otherwise 'Bob' , was an Australian political activist and journalist and one of the most influential political figures in 20th century Australian history...
formed the Democratic Labor Party
Democratic Labor Party
The Democratic Labor Party is a political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism and opposes neo-liberalism. The first "DLP" Senator in decades, party vice-president John Madigan was elected to the Australian Senate with 2.3 percent of the primary vote in Victoria at the 2010 federal...
over concerns of Communist influence over the trade union movement in the 1950s.
In 1999, Catholic cardinal Edward Clancy wrote to the prime minister, John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, urging him to send an armed peacekeeping force to East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
to end the violence engulfing that country. The current Archbishops of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell
George Pell
George Pell AC is an Australian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the eighth and current Archbishop of Sydney, serving since 2001. He previously served as auxiliary bishop and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne...
(Catholic) and Peter Jensen (Anglican), have concerned themselves with traditional issues of Christian doctrine, such as marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
or abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, but have also raised questions about government policies such as the Work Choices industrial relations reforms and the mandatory detention
Mandatory detention in Australia
Mandatory detention in Australia concerns the Australian federal government's policy and system of mandatory immigration detention active from 1992 to date, pursuant to which all persons entering the country without a valid visa are compulsorily detained and sometimes subject to deportation.In the...
of asylum seekers.
Tim Costello
Tim Costello
Timothy Ewen Costello AO is a prominent Baptist minister and current CEO of World Vision Australia.He is an "Australian Living Treasure". He is the brother of former treasurer of Australia and Federal Member for Higgins Peter Costello....
, a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister and the CEO of World Vision
World Vision
World Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...
Australia, has often been vocal on issues of welfare, foreign aid and climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
.
Politicians
When taking their oath of officeOath of office
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations...
, ministers in the Australian federal government may elect to swear that oath on the Bible. Half of the 40 member Cabinet of the Rudd Government
Rudd Government
The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...
chose to do so in 2007. Historically most Australian Prime Ministers have been Christians of varying denominations. Of recent Prime Ministers, Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
was an agnostic son a Congregational minister; Paul Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
was practising Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
; John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
and Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
have been practising Anglicans.
Religion is often kept 'low-key' as topic of discussion in politics in Australia, but a number of current and past politicians present themselves as Christian in public life, these include:
- Federally: Kevin RuddKevin RuddKevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
(Anglican, former Roman Catholic, former Prime Minister), Tony AbbottTony AbbottAnthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...
(Roman Catholic, Leader of the Opposition), Joe HockeyJoe HockeyJoseph Benedict "Joe" Hockey , is an Australian politician and member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of North Sydney for the Liberal Party of Australia since 1996....
, (Roman Catholic, Shadow Treasurer) Christopher PyneChristopher PyneChristopher Maurice Pyne, MP , Australian politician, has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 13 March 1993, representing the Division of Sturt, South Australia.-Early years:...
(Roman Catholic, LiberalLiberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
MP), and Steve FieldingSteve FieldingSteven "Steve" Fielding , was a Senator representing the state of Victoria and the federal parliamentary leader of the Family First Party in Australia. Elected to the Senate at the 2004 federal election on two percent of the Victorian vote, he failed to gain re-election at the 2010 federal election...
(Pentecostal, Family FirstFamily First PartyThe Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
Senator), and previously most Prime Ministers; Kim BeazleyKim BeazleyIn the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....
(former leader of the Opposition) Brian HarradineBrian HarradineRichard William Brian Harradine , Australian politician, was an independent member of the Australian Senate from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving independent federal politician in Australian history, and a Father of the Senate.He was born in Quorn, South...
, Tasmanian independent (1975–2005), Brian HoweBrian Howe (politician)Brian Leslie Howe, AO , Australian politician, was Deputy Prime Minister in the Labor government of Paul Keating from 1991 to 1995....
Labor Deputy Prime Minister (1991–1995) - State: Premier Kristina KeneallyKristina KeneallyKristina Kerscher Keneally MP, is an Australian politician and was the 42nd Premier of New South Wales. She was elected leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales and thus Premier in 2009, but went on to lose government to the Liberal/National Coalition at the March 2011 state election...
, Fred NileFred NileFrederick John "Fred" Nile is an Australian politician and clergyman. Nile has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 1981, except for a period in 2004 when he resigned to contest the Australian Senate at the 2004 federal election...
and Gordon MoyesGordon MoyesGordon Keith Mackenzie Moyes AC is an Australian Christian evangelist, broadcaster and former politician.-Early life and career:...
in the New South Wales Legislative CouncilNew South Wales Legislative CouncilThe New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
, Andrew Evans in the South Australian Legislative CouncilSouth Australian Legislative CouncilThe Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly...
and Joh Bjelke Petersen Premier of Queensland (1968 to 1987)
Festivals
The Christian festivals of ChristmasChristmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
are marked as public holidays in Australia.
Christmas
The Christian festival of Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. As in most Western nations, Christmas in Australia is an important time even for non-religious people and is generally celebrated on 25 December. Churches of the Western Christian tradition hold Christmas Day services on this day but most churches of Eastern Christian tradition - Ethiopian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox or the Armenian ChurchArmenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
celebrate Christmas on 6 or 7 January. Both Christmas Day and 26 December (Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
) are public holidays throughout Australia.
Although Christmas in Australia is celebrated during the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
summer, many Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
traditions are observed in Australia - families and friends exchange Christmas cards and gifts and gather for Christmas dinners; sing songs about snow and sleighbells; decorate Christmas Tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
s; and tell stories of Santa Clause. Nevertheless local adaptations have arisen - large open-air carol services are conducted on summer evenings before Christmas - such as the Carols by Candlelight
Carols by Candlelight
Carols by Candlelight is an Australian Christmas tradition that originated in southeastern Australia in the 19th century and was popularised in Melbourne in the 1930s. The tradition has since spread around the world. It involves people gathering, usually outdoors in a park, to sing carols by...
in Melbourne and Sydney's Carols in the Domain
Carols in the Domain
Carols in the Domain is an annual Christmas concert free event held in the Domain Gardens, Sydney, Australia. It began in 1982. It is broadcast around Australia on the Seven Network and simulcast on 101.7 WSFM....
. The Christmas song Six White Boomers, by Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
, tells of Santa undertaking his flight around Australia hauled by six white-boomer kangaroos in place of reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
. Christian carols such as Three Drovers or Christmas Day by John Wheeler
John Wheeler
John Wheeler may refer to:* John Wheeler , American Emmy Award-winning audio/video engineer* John Wheeler , Union officer in the Civil War; killed at Gettysburg* John Wheeler John Wheeler may refer to:* John Wheeler (audio/video technologist) (born 1957), American Emmy Award-winning audio/video...
and William G. James
William G. James
William Garnet James was an Australian pianist and composer and a pioneer of music broadcasting in Australia.-Early years:...
place the hymns of praise firmly in an Australian context of warm, dry Christmas winds and red dust. Although a hot roast dinner remains a favourite Christmas meal, the summer temperatures can tempt some Australians toward the nearest watercourses to cool down between feasts. It is a tradition for international visitors to gather en masse at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Christmas Day.
The Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
is also known to be a crowd drawer for the special Christmas Eve midnight mass. More than 15,000 faithful gather at churches in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, notably the St Hurmizd Cathedral in Sydney's west.
Easter
The Christian festival of Easter commemorates the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
's account of the Crucification and Resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
of Jesus Christ. In Australia, in addition to the religious significance of Easter for Christians, the festival is marked by a four-day holiday weekend starting on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
and ending on Easter Monday
Easter Monday
Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox cultures...
- which generally coincides with school holidays and is an opportunity for family and friends to travel and reunite. Across Australia, church services are well attended, as are secular music festivals, fairs and sporting events.
Traditional Easter foods commonly consumed in Australia include Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns
"Hot Cross Buns" is an English language nursery rhyme, Easter song and street cry referring to the spiced English bun associated with Good Friday known as a Hot Cross Bun...
, recalling the cross of the Crucifixion, and chocolate Easter Eggs - symbolic of the promise of New Life offered by the Resurrection. Although chocolate eggs are now eaten throughout the period, eggs were traditionally exchanged on Easter Sunday and, as in other nations, young children believe their eggs to be delivered by the Easter Bunny
Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is a character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes...
. A local variant on this tradition is the story of the Easter Bilby
Easter Bilby
- Origin :Bilbies are native Australian marsupials that are endangered. To raise money and increase popular awareness of conservation efforts, bilby-shaped chocolates and related merchandise are sold within many stores throughout Australia as an alternative to Easter bunnies.The first documented...
, which seeks to raise the profile of an endangered Australian native, the Bilby
Bilby
Bilbies are desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores; they are members of the order Peramelemorphia. Before European colonisation of Australia, there were two species. One became extinct in the 1950s; the other survives but remains endangered....
whose existence is threatened by the imported European rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
population.
Other Easter traditions have been brought by migrant communities to Australia. Greek Orthodox traditions have a wide following among descendants of Greek immigrants; and a fishermen's tradition brought from Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, the Ulladulla Blessing of the Fleet
Blessing of the Fleet
The Blessing of the Fleet is a tradition that began centuries ago in Mediterranean fishing communities. The practice is predominantly Catholic and a blessing from the local priest was meant to ensure a safe and bountiful season...
, takes place on the New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
South Coast with St Peter as patron.
Architecture
Most towns in Australia have at least one Christian church. One of Australia's oldest is St. James Church, Sydney
St. James Church, Sydney
St James' Church is an Anglican church in King Street in Sydney, Australia. Consecrated on 11 February 1824, the church was designed by the transported convict architect Francis Greenway during the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie, and is part of the historical precinct of Macquarie Street...
, built between 1819 and 1824. The historic Anglican
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
church was designed by Governor Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
's architect, Francis Greenway
Francis Greenway
-References:* *...
- a former convict - and built with convict labour. It is set on a sandstone base and built of face brick with the walls articulated by brick piers. Sydney's Anglican Cathedral of St Andrew
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
St Andrew's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of New South Wales, the Most Reverend Peter Jensen...
was consecrated in 1868 from foundations laid in the 1830s. Largely designed by Edmund Thomas Blacket in the Perpendicular Gothic style reminiscent of English cathedrals. Blacket also designed St Saviour's Goulburn Cathedral
Goulburn Cathedral (St. Saviour)
St Saviour's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Australia. The Cathedral is named after the Saviour Himself. The current Dean is the Very Reverend Phillip Saunders.-History:...
, based on the on the Decorated Gothic style of a large English parish church and built between 1874-1884.
The "mother church" of Catholicism in Australia is St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. The cathedral is dedicated to "Mary, Help of Christians", Patron of Australia...
. The plan of the cathedral is a conventional English cathedral plan, cruciform in shape, with a tower over the crossing of the nave and transepts, and twin towers at the West Front, with impressive stained glass windows. 106.7 metres in length and a general width 24.4 metres, it is Sydney's largest church. Built to a design by William Wardell
William Wardell
William Wilkinson Wardell was a Civil Engineer and Architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but also for having a successful career as a surveyor, and an ecclesiastical architect in England and Scotland before his departure.In Australia,...
from a foundation stone laid in 1868, the spires of the Cathedral were not finally added until the year 2000.
Wardell also worked on the design of St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Patrick's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Denis J. Hart. The building is known internationally as a leading example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture.In 1974 Pope Paul VI...
- considered among the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Australia. Wardell's overall design was in Gothic Revival style, paying tribute to the mediaeval cathedrals of Europe. Largely constructed between 1858 and 1897, the nave was Early English in style, while the remainder of the building is in Decorated Gothic. St Paul's Anglican Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria...
, from a foundation stone laid in 1880, is another Melbourne landmark. It was designed by distinguished English architect William Butterfield
William Butterfield
William Butterfield was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement . He is noted for his use of polychromy-Biography:...
in Gothic Transitional.
Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
is home to a number of significant colonial Christian buildings including those located at Australia's best preserved convict era settlement, Port Arthur
Port Arthur, Tasmania
Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. Port Arthur is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and the open air museum is officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. It is located approximately 60 km south east of...
. According to 19th century notions of prisoner reform, the "Model Prison" incorporates a grim chapel into which prisoners in solitary confinement were shepherded to listen (in individual enclosures) to the preacher's Sunday sermon - their only permitted interaction with another human being. Adelaide, the capital of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
has long been known as the "City of Churches" and its St Peter's Anglican Cathedral
St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide
St Peter's Cathedral is an Anglican Cathedral in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide...
is a noted city landmark. 130 km north of Adelaide is the Jesuit old stone winery and cellars at Sevenhill
Sevenhill, South Australia
The town of Sevenhill is in the Clare Valley region of South Australia, approximately 130 km north of Adelaide. It was settled by the Austrian Jesuit Fathers and Brothers in 1848...
, founded by Austrian Jesuits in 1848.
The oldest building in the city of Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
is the picturesque St John the Baptist Anglican Church
St John the Baptist Church, Reid
St John the Baptist Church is the oldest church in Canberra, Australia, and also the oldest building within Canberra's city precinct. It is sited at the corner of ANZAC Parade and Constitution Avenue in the suburb of Reid.-Construction:...
in Reid, consecrated in 1845. This church long pre-dates the city of Canberra and is not so much representative of urban design as it is of the Bush
The Bush
"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...
chapels which dot the Australian landscape and stretch even into the far Outback
Outback
The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
, such as that which can be found at the Lutheran Mission Chapel at Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg, Northern Territory
Hermannsburg is an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory of Australia, 131 km southwest of Alice Springs. It is known in the local Western Arrernte language as Ntaria....
in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
. A rare Australian example of Spanish missionary style exists at New Norcia, Western Australia
New Norcia, Western Australia
New Norcia is a town in Western Australia, north of Perth, along the Great Northern Highway. It is situated next to the banks of the Moore River, in the Shire of Victoria Plains.New Norcia is the only monastic town in Australia...
. Founded by Spanish Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monks in 1846.
A number of notable Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
era chapels and edifices were also constructed at church schools across Australia.
Along with community attitudes to religion, church architecture changed significantly during the 20th century. Urban churches such as that at the Wayside Chapel
Wayside Chapel
The Wayside Chapel is a ministry in the Kings Cross/Potts Point area of Sydney, Australia.-Description and history:The Wayside Chapel was established in the Kings Cross area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1964. Ted Noffs was the founder of the Wayside Chapel, which was at the time a...
(1964) in Sydney differed markedly from traditional ecclesiastical designs. St Monica's Cathedral in Cairns was designed by architect Ian Ferrier and built in 1967-68 following the form of the original basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
model of the early churches of Rome, adapted to a tropical climate and to reflect the changes to Catholic liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
mandated at Vatican 2. The cathedral was dedicated as a memorial to the Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged...
which was fought east of Cairns in May 1942. The "Peace Window" stained glass was installed on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
In the later 20th century, distinctly Australian approaches were applied at places such as Jambaroo Benedictine Abbey, where natural materials were chosen to "harmonise with the local environment". The chapel sanctuary is of glass overlooking rainforest. Similar design principles were applied at Thredbo Ecumenical Chapel built in the Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....
in 1996.
Film
The Salvation ArmySalvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
founded one of the world's first ever movie studios in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in the 1890s: the Limelight Department
Limelight Department
The Limelight Department was one of the world's first film studios, beginning in 1898, operated by The Salvation Army in Melbourne, Australia. The Limelight Department produced evangelistic material for use by the Salvation Army, including lantern slides as early as 1891, as well as private and...
. First filming A Melbourne Street Scene in 1897, they went on to make large scale Christian themed audio-visual presentations such as Soldiers of the Cross in 1900, and documented the Australian Federation ceremonies of 1901.
Australian films on Christian themes have included:
- Molokai: The Story of Father DamienMolokai: The Story of Father DamienMolokai: The Story of Father Damien is a 1999 biopic of Father Damien, who was a Belgian priest working at the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement on the Hawaiian island of Molokai...
(1999), directed by Paul CoxPaul CoxPaulus Henriqus Benedictus "Paul" Cox is an award-winning Australian film director.Cox was born in Venlo, Limburg, the Netherlands, the son of Else , a native of Germany, and Wim Cox, a documentary film producer. Cox emigrated to Australia in 1965...
and starring David WenhamDavid WenhamDavid Wenham is an Australian actor who has appeared in movies, television series and theatre productions. He is known in Hollywood for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Carl in Van Helsing and Dilios in 300 and Neil Fletcher in Australia...
. The film recounts the life of a Belgian saint, Fr Damien of Molokai who devoted his life to care of leperLeprosyLeprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
s on a Hawaiian IslandHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. - Mary (1994), directed written and directed by Kay Pavlou and starring Lucy BellLucy BellLucy Bell is a British-born Australian television and film actress. Her partner is James O'Loghlin and they have three daughters.- Television :...
. A biopic recounting the life and works of SaintSaintA saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
Mary MacKillopMary MacKillopMary Helen MacKillop , also known as Saint Mary of the Cross, was an Australian Roman Catholic nun who, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australasia with an emphasis on...
, Australia's first canonised saintSaintA saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
of the Catholic Church.
- The Passion of the ChristThe Passion of the ChristThe Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
(2004) was directed, co-produced and co-written by Australian trained actor-director Mel Gibson (who was raised a Traditionalist Catholic in Australia).
Media
A number of current and past media personalities present themselves as Christian in public life, these include Brooke FraserBrooke Fraser
Brooke Gabrielle Fraser Ligertwood, better known as Brooke Fraser is a New Zealand award-winning folk-pop and Christian music artist...
, Dan Sweetman
Dan Sweetman
Daniel Albert Sweetman is the former co-host for Network Ten's national cartoon show Toasted TV. His father, John, works as a Principal Pastor while his mother, Debbie, is a piano teacher...
, and Guy Sebastian
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
.
Father Bob Maguire and Reverend Gordon Moyes
Gordon Moyes
Gordon Keith Mackenzie Moyes AC is an Australian Christian evangelist, broadcaster and former politician.-Early life and career:...
have hosted radio programs.
Coverage of religion is part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
's Charter obligation to reflect the character and diversity of the Australian community. Its religious programs include coverage of worship and devotion, explanation, analysis, debate and reports.
Catholic Church Television Australia is an office with the Australian Catholic Office for Film & Broadcasting and develops television programs for Aurora Community Television
Aurora Community Television
Aurora Community Channel is an Australian subscription television channel that screens locally produced community television programs. It was launched on the 1 March, on the Foxtel, Austar and Optus Digital Networks and can be found on channel 183...
on Foxtel
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....
and Austar
Austar
Austar is an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity is Subscription Television but it is also involved with internet access and mobile phones...
in Australia.
Literature
A Bush Christening is a popular comic bush balladBush ballad
Bush songs or bush ballads are a folk music and poetry tradition in Australia's outback. The rhyming songs, poems and tales often relate to the itinerant and rebellious spirit of Australia, a young country. The lyrical tradition of bush songs was born of settlers and influenced by Aboriginal...
by renowned Australian poet Banjo Paterson
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...
which makes light of the sparsity of Christian preachers and houses of worship on the Australian frontier, beginning:
- On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few,
- And men of religion are scanty...
Nevetheless, the body of literature produced by Australian Christians is extensive. During colonial times, the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
missionary William Ullathorne
William Bernard Ullathorne
William Bernard Ullathorne was an English Roman Catholic bishop and a missionary in Australia.-Early life:William Ullathorne was born in Pocklington, Yorkshire, the eldest of ten children of William Ullathorne, a prosperous grocer, draper and spirit merchant, and his wife Hannah, née Longstaff...
(1806–1889) was a notable essayist writing against the Convict Transportation system. Later Cardinal Moran (1830–1911), a noted historian, wrote a History of the Catholic Church in Australasia. More recent Catholic histories of Australian include The Catholic Church and Community in Australia (1977) by Patrick O'Farrell
Patrick O'Farrell
Patrick O'Farrell was a historian known for his histories of Roman Catholicism in Australia, Irish history and Irish Australian history...
and Australian Catholics (1987), by Edmund Campion.
Notable Christian poets have included Christopher Brennan
Christopher Brennan
Christopher John Brennan was an Australian poet and scholar.-Biography:Brennan was born in Sydney, to Christopher Brennan , a brewer, and his wife Mary Ann , née Carroll, both Irish immigrants....
(1870–1932), James McAuley
James McAuley
James Phillip McAuley was an Australian academic, poet, journalist, literary critic and a prominent convert to Roman Catholicism.-Life and career:...
(1917–1976), Bruce Dawe
Bruce Dawe
Donald Bruce Dawe AO is an Australian poet, and is considered by many as one of the most influential Australian poets of all time.-Early life:...
(born 1930) and Les Murray
Les Murray (poet)
Leslie Allan Murray, AO , known as Les Murray, is an Australian poet, anthologist and critic. His career spans over forty years, and he has published nearly 30 volumes of poetry, as well as two verse novels and collections of his prose writings...
(born 1938). Murray and Dawe are among Australia's formemost contemporary poets, noted for their use of vernacular and everyday Australian themes. Emblematic of the Christian poets could be McCauley's rejection of Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
in favour of Classical culture:
- Christ, you walked on a sea
- But you cannot walk in a poem,
- Not in our century.
- There’s something deeply wrong
- Either with us or with you
Australian literature for a long time assumed knowledge of Biblical stories, even where works of literature are not overtly Christian in character. The writings of great 20th century authors like Manning Clark
Manning Clark
Charles Manning Hope Clark, AC , an Australian historian, was the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume A History of Australia, published between 1962 and 1987...
or Patrick White
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
are therefore filled with allusions to biblical or Christian themes.
Many Australian writers have examined the lives of Christian characters, or have influenced by Christian educations. Best selling author Tim Winton
Tim Winton
Timothy John "Tim" Winton , is an Australian novelist and short story writer.-Life:Winton was born in Perth, Western Australia, but moved at a young age to the regional city of Albany....
.s early novel That Eye, the Sky
That Eye, the Sky
That Eye, the Sky is a 1986 novel by award-winning Australian author Tim Winton. It follows a 13 year old boy coping with life in a small country town after his father has a serious car-related incident involving the smashing of two large bodies of steel...
tells the story of a family's conversion to Christianity in the face of tragedy. Australia's best selling novel of all time, The Thornbirds, by Colleen McCullough
Colleen McCullough
Colleen McCullough-Robinson, , is an internationally acclaimed Australian author.-Life:McCullough was born in Wellington, in outback central west New South Wales, in 1937 to James and Laurie McCullough. Her mother was a New Zealander of part-Māori descent. During her childhood, her family moved...
writes of the temptations encountered by a priest living in the Outback.
Many contemporary Australian writers including Peter Carey and Robert Hughes
Robert Hughes (critic)
Robert Studley Forrest Hughes, AO is an Australian-born art critic, writer and television documentary maker who has resided in New York since 1970.-Early life:...
; leading screen writers Nick Enright
Nick Enright
-Life:He was drama captain of St Ignatius' College, Riverview in 1964, where, like Gerard Windsor and Justin Fleming, he was taught by Melvyn Morrow. At that school, he won the 1sts Debating Premiership in both 1966 and 1967....
, Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...
, Peter Weir
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
, Santo Cilauro
Santo Cilauro
Santo Cilauro is an Australian television and feature film producer, screenwriter, actor, author, comedian and cameraman, a co-founder of The D-Generation...
and Tom Gleisner
Tom Gleisner
Tom Gleisner is an Australian director, producer, writer, comedian, occasional actor and author. He was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne, Australia.-Television, radio and film:...
; and notable poets and authors like Kenneth Slessor
Kenneth Slessor
Kenneth Adolf Slessor OBE was an Australian poet and journalist. He was one of Australia's leading poets, notable particularly for the absorption of modernist influences into Australian poetry. The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is named after him.-Life:Slessor was born Kenneth Adolphe...
, Helen Garner
Helen Garner
Helen Garner is an award-winning Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist.-Life:Garner was born in Geelong, Victoria, the eldest of six children. She attended Manifold Heights State School, Ocean Grove State School and then The Hermitage in Geelong...
and Gerard Windsor
Gerard Windsor
Gerard Charles Windsor is an Australian author and literary critic. He was dux of St Ignatius' College, Riverview in both 1961 and 1962, where, like Justin Fleming, he was taught by Melvyn Morrow. He trained as a Jesuit from the age of 18 to 24. He studied Arts at the Australian National...
attended Anglican, Presbyterian or Catholic schools in Australia.
In 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
, an atheist, said that it was important for Australians to have knowledge of the Bible, on the basis that "what comes from the Bible has formed such an important part of our culture. It's impossible to understand Western literature without having that key of understanding the Bible stories and how Western literature builds on them and reflects them and deconstructs them and brings them back together."
Art
The story of Christian art in Australia began with the arrival of the first British settlers at the end of the 18th Century. During the 19th Century, Gothic Revival Cathedrals were built in the Colonial capitals, often containing stained glassStained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
art works, as can be seen at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. The cathedral is dedicated to "Mary, Help of Christians", Patron of Australia...
and St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Patrick's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Denis J. Hart. The building is known internationally as a leading example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture.In 1974 Pope Paul VI...
. Rupert Bunny
Rupert Bunny
Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny was an Australian painter, born in St Kilda, Victoria. He achieved success and critical acclaim as an expatriate in fin-de-siècle Paris....
(1864–1947), one of the first Australian painters to gain international fame, often painted Christian themes (see Annunciation, 1893). Roy de Maistre
Roy De Maistre
Roy de Maistre CBE was an Australian artist of international fame. He is famous in Australian art for his early experimentation in "colour-music", and is recognised as the first Australian artist to use pure abstractionism. His later works were painted in a figurative style generally influenced by...
(1894–1968) was an Australian abstract artist who obtained renown in Britain, converted to Catholicism and painted notable religious works, including a series of Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
for Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
. Among the most acclaimed of Australian painters of Christian themes was Arthur Boyd
Arthur Boyd
Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, AC, OBE was one of the leading Australian painters of the late 20th Century. A member of the prominent Boyd artistic dynasty in Australia, his relatives included painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary Boyd married John Perceval,...
. Influenced by both the European masters and the Heidelberg School
Heidelberg School
The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century. The movement has latterly been described as Australian Impressionism....
of Australian landscape art, he placed the central characters of the bible within Australian bush scenery, as in his portrait of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
, The Expulsion (1948). Artist Leonard French
Leonard French
Leonard William French OBE is an Australian artist, known principally for major stained glass works.French was born in Brunswick, Victoria...
, who designed a stained glass ceiling of the National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
, has drawn heavily on Christian story and symbolism through his career.
From the 1970s, Australian Aboriginal artists of the Western Desert began to paint traditional style artworks in acrylic paints. This distinctively Australian style of painting has been fused with biblical themes to produce a uniquely Australian contribution to the long history of Christian art
Christian art
Christian art is sacred art produced in an attempt to illustrate, supplement and portray in tangible form the principles of Christianity, though other definitions are possible. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, although some have had strong objections to some forms of...
: integrating the mysterious dot designs and evocative circular patterns of traditional Aboriginal art with popular Christian subjects.
The Blake Prize for Religious Art
Blake Prize for Religious Art
The Blake Prize for Religious Art is an annual art prize in Australia.The prize was established in 1949 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art. Founded by Mr R. Morley, the Reverend Michael Scott SJ, Rector of Newman College, University of Melbourne, and lawyer Mrs M. Tenison, it...
was established in 1951 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art in Australia and was named after the artist and poet William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
.
Music
Christian music arrived in Australia with the First FleetFirst Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
of British settlers in 1788 and has grown to include all genres from traditional Hymns of Praise to Christian Rock
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
and Country Music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. St Mary's Cathedral Choir, Sydney
St Mary's Cathedral Choir, Sydney
The St Mary's Cathedral Choir is the oldest musical institution in Australia. In 1818 a group of choristers was formed to sing Vespers before the Blessed Sacrament in the Dempsey Household, the centre of Roman Catholic worship in Sydney as a penal colony...
is the oldest musical institution in Australia, from origins in 1817. Major recording artists from Johnny O'Keefe
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...
(the first Australian Rock and Roll star) to Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
(folk rock), Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
(the critically acclaimed brooding rocker) and Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty
David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...
(the King of Australian country music
Australian country music
Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodelling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, by the traditions of Australian bush balladeers, as well as by popular American...
) have all recorded Christian themed songs. Other performing artists such as Catholic nun Sister Janet Mead
Sister Janet Mead
Sister Janet Mead is a Roman Catholic nun and is best known for recording a rock version of The Lord's Prayer. The surprise hit reached #3 on the Australian Singles Chart in 1974 and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in that same year. The single earned her a Grammy Award nomination and Golden Gospel...
, Aboriginal crooner Jimmy Little
Jimmy Little
Jimmy Little AO , is an Australian Aboriginal musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist, whose career has spanned six decades. For many years he was the only Aboriginal star on the Australian music scene...
and Australian Idol
Australian Idol
Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...
contestant Guy Sebastian
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
have held Christianity as central to their public persona.
Church music also ranges widely across genres, from Melbourne's St Paul's Cathedral Choir
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria...
who sing choral evensong most weeknights; to the Contemporary music that is a feature of the evangelical Hillsong congregation. The Ntaria Choir at Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg is a municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the River Örtze, approx. 15 kilometers east of Bergen and 30 kilometers north of Celle.-Division of the municipality:...
, Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
, has a unique musical language which mixes the traditional vocals of the Ntaria Aboriginal women with Lutheran chorales (tunes that were the basis of much of Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
's music). Baba Waiyar, a popular traditional Torres Strait Islander hymn shows the influence of gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
mixed with traditionally strong Torres Strait Islander vocals and country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
.
Annually, Australians gather in large numbers for traditional open-air Christmas music Carols by Candlelight concerts in December, such as the Carols by Candlelight
Carols by Candlelight
Carols by Candlelight is an Australian Christmas tradition that originated in southeastern Australia in the 19th century and was popularised in Melbourne in the 1930s. The tradition has since spread around the world. It involves people gathering, usually outdoors in a park, to sing carols by...
of Melbourne, and Sydney's Carols in the Domain
Carols in the Domain
Carols in the Domain is an annual Christmas concert free event held in the Domain Gardens, Sydney, Australia. It began in 1982. It is broadcast around Australia on the Seven Network and simulcast on 101.7 WSFM....
. Australian Christmas carols like the Three Drovers or Christmas Day by John Wheeler
John Wheeler
John Wheeler may refer to:* John Wheeler , American Emmy Award-winning audio/video engineer* John Wheeler , Union officer in the Civil War; killed at Gettysburg* John Wheeler John Wheeler may refer to:* John Wheeler (audio/video technologist) (born 1957), American Emmy Award-winning audio/video...
and William G. James
William G. James
William Garnet James was an Australian pianist and composer and a pioneer of music broadcasting in Australia.-Early years:...
place the Christmas story firmly in an Australian context of warm, dry Christmas winds and red dust.
New South Wales Supreme Court Judge George Palmer was commissioned to compose the setting of the Mass for Sydney's World Youth Day 2008
World Youth Day 2008
The 23rd World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was decided by Pope Benedict XVI, during the Cologne...
Papal Mass. The Mass, Benedictus Qui Venit, for large choir, soloists and orchestra, was performed in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
and an audience of 350,000 with singing led by soprano Amelia Farrugia and tenor Andrew Goodwin
Andrew Goodwin
Andrew John Goodwin was Director of Music and Organist at Bangor Cathedral for 37 years.After living in Oxford and then in the West Midlands, Goodwin studied at the University of Liverpool and was subsequently a postgraduate student at the University of Wales Bangor; he obtained degrees in Music...
. "Receive the Power
Receive the Power
Receive the Power is a Gospel song written by Guy Sebastian and Gary Pinto, and performed by Guy Sebastian and Paulini chosen in May 2007 as the official anthem for the Roman Catholic Church's XXIII World Youth Day held in Sydney in 2008....
" a song written by Guy Sebastian and Gary Pinto
Gary Pinto
Gary Pinto is an Australian singer, songwriter and musician.-Career:Gary Pinto is an Australian musician of Indian descent. His parents were from Chennai and members of a minority Christian Indian Catholics...
was chosen as official anthem for the XXIII World Youth Day
World Youth Day
World Youth Day is a youth-oriented Catholic Church event. While the event itself celebrates the Catholic faith, the invitation to attend extends to all youth, regardless of religious convictions....
(WYD08) held in Sydney in 2008.
Church affiliation
The churches with the largest number of members are the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, the Anglican Church of AustraliaAnglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
and the Uniting Church in Australia
Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....
. Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
churches are growing, with megachurch
Megachurch
A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...
es predominantly associated with Australian Christian Churches
Australian Christian Churches
Australian Christian Churches , also known as Assemblies of God in Australia , is a Pentecostal Christian denomination and the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world...
(the Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
in Australia), being found in most states (for example, Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch affiliated with Australian Christian Churches and located in Sydney, Australia. The church's senior pastors, Brian and Bobbie Houston, began the church in 1983 as the Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills...
and Paradise Community Church
Paradise Community Church
Paradise Community Church is a multi-campus Christian church, located in Paradise, situated in north east Adelaide, South Australia, affiliated with Australian Christian Churches. The church was founded in 1907 by British evangelist Smith Wigglesworth. In 1969, Andrew Evans became its first...
).
Australian Bureau of Statistics
According to the 2006 Australian censusCensus in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
analysed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
, 12,685,829 or 63.9% of the population self-declared as Christians.
| Affiliation | 1986 ('000) | 1986 % (of all Christians) | 1996 ('000) | 1996 % (of all Christians) | 2006 ('000) | 2006 % (of all Christians) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anglican Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania... |
3723.4 | 32.7% | 3903.3 | 31.0% | 3718.3 | 29.3% |
| Baptist | 196.8 | 1.7% | 295.2 | 2.3% | 316.7 | 2.5% |
| Catholic | 4064.4 | 35.7% | 4799 | 38.1% | 5126.9 | 40.4% |
| Churches of Christ | 88.5 | 0.8% | 75 | 0.6% | 54.8 | 0.4% |
| Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual... |
66.5 | 0.6% | 83.4 | 0.7% | 80.9 | 0.6% |
| Latter Day Saints | 35.5 | 0.3% | 45.2 | 0.4% | 53.1 | 0.4% |
| Lutheran | 208.3 | 1.8% | 250 | 2.0% | 251.1 | 2.0% |
| Eastern Orthodox | 427.4 | 3.8% | 497.3 | 4.0% | 544.3 | 4.3% |
| Pentecostal | 107 | 0.9% | 174.6 | 1.4% | 219.6 | 1.7% |
| Presbyterian and Reformed Churches Reformed churches The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin... |
560 | 4.9% | 675.5 | 5.4% | 596.7 | 4.7% |
| Salvation Army | 77.8 | 0.7% | 74.1 | 0.6% | 64.2 | 0.5% |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 48 | 0.4% | 52.7 | 0.4% | 55.3 | 0.4% |
| Uniting Church Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union.... |
1182.3 | 10.4% | 1334.9 | 10.6% | 1135.4 | 9.0% |
| Other Christian | 596 | 5.2% | 322.7 | 2.6% | 468.6 | 3.7% |
| Christian total | 11381.9 | 100.00% | 12582.9 | 100.00% | 12685.9 | 100.00% |
| State States and territories of Australia The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a... | Christians '000 (2001) | % population | Christians '000 (2006) | % population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 New South Wales |
4,520.3 | 71.4% | 4,434.7 | 67.7% |
 Victoria (Australia) |
3,011.3 | 64.6% | 2,985.8 | 60.5% |
 Queensland |
2,499.3 | 70.9% | 2,589.5 | 66.3% |
 Western Australia |
1,157.1 | 63.2% | 1,162.5 | 59.3% |
 South Australia |
942.9 | 64.1% | 906.1 | 59.8% |
 Tasmania |
320.2 | 69.4% | 306.1 | 64.2% |
 Australian Capital Territory |
198.5 | 64.0% | 195.2 | 60.2% |
 Northern Territory |
114.0 | 60.6% | 105.4 | 54.6% |
| All Australia | 12,764.3 | 68.0% | 12,685.8 | 63.9% |
Church attendance
While church affiliation as reported in the census identifies the largest denominations, there is no overarching study that shows how active the members are. Some smaller studies include the National Church Life SurveyNational Church Life Survey
Australian National Church Life Surveys have been performed every 5 years from 1991 to 2001, to study Church Life in Australia. The NCLS Research partnership administers these surveys...
which researches weekly church attendance
Church attendance
Church attendance refers to the reception of religious services offered by a particular church, or more generally, by any religious organisation.-Participation statistics:...
among other items through a survey done in over 7000 congregations in many but not all Christian denominations every Australian Census year and from that estimates figures for those denominations nationally.
From the survey about 8.8% of the Australian population attended a church in one of the covered denominations in a given week in 2001.
The Roman Catholic Church represents the highest number of church attenders, with over 50 percent. Whilst church attendance is generally decreasing the Roman Catholic Church attendance in Australia is declining at a rate of 13 percent. Pentecostal denominations such as Australian Christian Churches
Australian Christian Churches
Australian Christian Churches , also known as Assemblies of God in Australia , is a Pentecostal Christian denomination and the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world...
(formerly Assemblies of God) and Christian City Churches
Christian City Churches
C3 Church Global, formerly known as Christian City Church International , is a Charismatic church movement founded by Pastors Phil Pringle and Christine Pringle. The first church was established at Dee Why on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, and is now located in Oxford Falls...
continue to grow rapidly, growing by over 20 per cent between 1991 and 1996. Some Protestant denominations such as the Baptist Union of Australia
Baptist Union of Australia
The Baptist Union of Australia is the oldest and largest national cooperative body of Baptists in Australia. Its current National President is Reverend Dr John Beasy. The BUA is now known as Australian Baptist Ministries - ABM...
and the Churches of Christ in Australia
Churches of Christ in Australia
The Churches of Christ in Australia is a Christian movement in Australia. It is part of the Restoration Movement with historical influences from the United States of America and the United Kingdom....
grew at a smaller rate, less than 10 per cent, between 1991 and 1996.
| Denomination | 2001 est. wkly att. ('000) | % total att. | % change since 1996 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anglican Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania... |
177.7 | 11.7% | |
| Apostolic | 9.1 | 0.6% | 20% |
| Assemblies of God Australian Christian Churches Australian Christian Churches , also known as Assemblies of God in Australia , is a Pentecostal Christian denomination and the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world... |
104.6 | 6.9% | 20% |
| Baptist Baptist Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion... |
112.2 | 7.4% | 8% |
| Bethesda Ministries | 2.7 | 0.2% | na |
| Christian & Missionary Alliance | 4.1 | 0.3% | na |
| Christian City Churches | 11.4 | 0.7.% | 42% |
| Christian Revival Crusade | 11.4 | 0.7.% | -7% |
| Church of the Nazarene | 1.6 | 0.1% | 33% |
| Churches of Christ Churches of Christ in Australia The Churches of Christ in Australia is a Christian movement in Australia. It is part of the Restoration Movement with historical influences from the United States of America and the United Kingdom.... |
45.1 | 3.0% | 7% |
| Lutheran Lutheran Church of Australia The Lutheran Church of Australia is the major Lutheran denomination in Australia, it also has a presence in New Zealand. It has 320 parishes, 540 congregations, 70,000 baptized members in Australia, 1,130 baptized members in New Zealand, 52,463 communicant members and 450 active pastors. Its... |
40.5 | 2.7% | -8% |
| Presbyterian | 35.0 | 2.3% | -3% |
| Reformed | 7.1 | 0.5% | -1% |
| Salvation Army | 27.9 | 1.8% | -7% |
| Seventh-day Adventist Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ... |
36.6 | 2.4 | na |
| Uniting Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union.... |
126.6 | 8.3 | -11% |
| Vineyard | 2.5 | 0.2% | -17% |
| Wesleyan Methodist | 3.8 | 0.2% | -7% |
| Catholic | 764.8 | 50.2 | -13% |
| Total Attendance | 1,524.7 | 100.0 | -7% |
Bible Belts
In AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the term Bible Belt
Bible Belt
Bible Belt is an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average.The...
has been used to refer to areas within individual cities, for example the north-western suburbs of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
focusing on Baulkham Hills and the north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
focusing on Paradise
Paradise, South Australia
Paradise is a northeastern suburb of Adelaide in South Australia. It is bounded on the north side by the River Torrens. Amongst its neighboring suburbs are Highbury, Dernancourt, Athelstone, Newton and Campbelltown....
, Modbury
Modbury, South Australia
Modbury is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Tea Tree Gully. Modbury is located at the end of the Adelaide O-Bahn and is home to the Tea Tree Plaza shopping complex and a Hospital.It was named Modbury by R...
and Golden Grove
Golden Grove, South Australia
Golden Grove is an outer north-eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia and is within the City of Tea Tree Gully local government area. It is adjacent to Wynn Vale, Surrey Downs, Greenwith, Yatala Vale, Fairview Park, and Salisbury East.- History :...
, though there is also a section of south-eastern Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
comprising the towns of Laidley
Laidley, Queensland
Laidley is a town situated in the Lockyer Valley of South East Queensland, Australia. The township lies 83 km west of Brisbane, the state capital....
, Gatton
Gatton, Queensland
Gatton is a town and the administrative centre of the Lockyer Valley Local Government Area situated in the Lockyer Valley of South East Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Gatton had a population of 5,295....
and Toowoomba which is referred to as the Bible Belt.