| St Francis' Church, Melbourne | |
|---|---|
 | |
 St Francis' Church, Melbourne | |
| 37°48′42″S144°57′45″E / 37.8116°S 144.9624°E /-37.8116; 144.9624 | |
| Location | Melbourne |
| Country | Australia |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Religious order | Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament |
| Website | stfrancismelbourne |
| History | |
| Status | |
| Founded | 4 October 1841 (1841-10-04) |
| Dedication | St Francis of Assisi |
| Consecrated | 23 October 1845 (1845-10-23) |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Victorian Heritage Inventory[1] |
| Designated | n.d. |
| Architect | Samuel Jackson |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Completed | 1845 |
| Administration | |
| Archdiocese | Melbourne |
| Parish | St Francis' |
| Clergy | |
| Priest | Ben Ho |
St Francis' Church is an AustralianRoman Catholicchurch located on the corner ofLonsdale andElizabeth streets inMelbourne, Victoria. It is the oldest Catholic church in the state.[citation needed]
The main body of the church (with various later additions) is one of very few buildings in central Melbourne which were built before theVictorian gold rush of 1851.
On 28 April 1839 a committee of the Catholics at Port Philip, who customarily met for prayer in the house of Peter Bodecin, wrote toBede Polding, vicar-apostolic ofNew Holland, Van Diemen's Land, and the adjoining islands, requesting a priest. Polding sent FatherPatrick GeogheganOFM who had arrived from Dublin the previous December. Geoghegan landed atWilliamstown on 15 May. He was the first resident Catholic priest in thePort Phillip District ofNew South Wales.[2]
The church's foundation stone was laid on 4 October 1841, thefeast day ofSt Francis of Assisi, to whom the church is dedicated.[3] The first Mass was held in the completed nave on 22 May 1842.Mary MacKillop (1842–1909) was baptised at St Francis' Church in 1842. The completed church was blessed on 23 October 1845.
In 1848, St Francis' became the cathedral church of the first Catholic Bishop of Melbourne,James Goold, and continued as a cathedral until 1868 when the diocesan seat was moved to the still unfinishedSt Patrick's Cathedral.[3] The cedar ceiling was installed in 1850. The ornate Ladye Chapel on the west side was designed by George and Schneider and constructed in 1856-58, with decoration by Le Gould and Souter.
A new sanctuary designed by Reed and Barnes was added in 1878-9 in theRenaissance Revival style.[1] The front porch was added in 1956, incorporating the roof of a smaller porch added in the 1850s. At different times, various Catholic organisations have been based at St Francis’ Church.
On 18 January 2017, two days before theJanuary 2017 Melbourne car attack, the perpetrator visited the church and, uninvited, spoke from theambo aboutterrorists and then left when police were called.[4]
Centrally located in the Melbourne's CBD, St Francis' has never lost its place as one of the city's most popular and widely used churches. It is the busiest church in Australia, with more than 10,000 worshippers attending each week.[citation needed] Since 1929, it has been a centre of eucharistic life in the care of theCongregation of the Blessed Sacrament. Amonastery was constructed in the late 1930s.
The church is listed on the Victorian Heritage Inventory,[1] with theNational Trust of Australia (Victoria), and with theAustralian Heritage Commission.[citation needed] Although there have been many changes made to the building, including the erection of a new tower, a gift from theGrollo family, to house the original 1853 bell imported fromDublin, the church remains essentially as it was designed by Samuel Jackson.
