Throughout 2020, we are looking to our diverse communities for your life-changing, funny and compelling tales.
Your story may certainly begin with where you went to school, and who your classmates and teachers were; where you have worked, or even where you now find yourself in life.
Yet, we wish to hear your Story (with a capital ';S"!) of happiness, emotions and friendships and how a Catholic education or workplace helped shape who you are today.
Be sure to share your pictures of days gone by and how a Catholic perspective brings forth the important question, "how have I created a better future for others?""
Share your story. Email: 175years@bne.catholic.edu.au
Our heritage
Our rich heritage stretches back to before the formation of our great state. In 1845, Catholic education in Queensland began on the site of what is now the Myer Centre in Brisbane's CBD.
The first parish priest of Brisbane town, Father James Hanly, employed lay people, Mary and Michael Bourke to teach 56 students in our state's first Catholic school.
The first Catholic Mass was celebrated only two years earlier by Sydney's Archbishop Polding, in a temporary chapel in what is now Elizabeth Street.
The Diocese of Brisbane started with the colony of Queensland in 1859, covering the entire state, a vast diocese with few people. The first bishop, James Quinn, organised an immigration scheme which brought thousands of Irish, establishing the style of the Church for a century.
While some Catholics were well off, the majority were not. Church policy was to raise their economic and social status in a Catholic atmosphere and education was the means.
Today's Catholic schools
175 years on, there are now more than 300 Catholic schools in Queensland. 142 primary, secondary and Prep-to-Year-12 schools are in the Archdiocese of Brisbane.
While the first school was opened to teach poor Irish Catholics, today, our students come from all cultures, all faiths and all backgrounds.
We flourished under the faith and steely fortitude of the many religious orders who opened so many Catholic schools. Without them, our Archdiocesan Catholic schools would be what they we are today – faith-filled learning communities creating a better future.
St Mary's School, Laidley, original school building St Francis Xavier School