sydney 1

St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney...

dedicated to the 'Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians'

Patroness of Australia

located on College Street 

near the eastern border of the Sydney central business district 

in the City of Sydney local government area [overheidsgebied]

of New South Wales, Australia. 

Despite the high-rise [hoogbouw] development of the central business district, the cathedral's imposing structure and twin spires make it a landmark from every direction. 

Sydney was established as a penal settlement... 

on 26 January 1788 in the name of King George III by Captain Arthur Phillip, for prisoners transported from Britain. Many of the people to arrive in Sydney at that time were military, some with wives and family. There were also some free settlers. 

The first chaplain of the colony was the Reverend Richard Johnson of the Church of England. No specific provision was made for the religious needs of those many convicts and settlers who were Roman Catholics. 

To redress this, an I.r.i.s.h. Catholic priest, a Father O'Flynn, travelled to the colony of New South Wales but, as he arrived without government sanction [goedkeuring], he was sent home.

It was not until 1820 that two priests, Father Conolly and Father John Therry, arrived to officially minister to the Roman Catholics in Australia. Father Conolly went to Tasmania and Father Therry remained in Sydney. 

Therry claimed that, on the day of his arrival, he had a vision of a mighty church of golden stone, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, raising its twin spires above the city of Sydney. This vision came to pass [kwam uit], but not until after 180 years [torenspitsen pas in 2000] and three intermediate buildings.

[wikipedia]