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WELCOME
OUR HISTORY
The Australian Catholic Historical Society has been established since 1940. It is our aim to promote interest, recording, and research in Australia’s Catholic history. We invite you to check out these pages and to become a Member.
The 2025 program of monthly talks is about to begin and the 2024 Journal is published … press release … text of Bishop Long’s talk in March
LAUNCH OF PHILIPPA MARTYR’S WITNESS
On 13 April 2025 ACHS VP James Franklin will launch Philippa Martyr’s Witness: The Future Catholic Church in Australia at Gleebooks, Sydney … rsvp
POPE’S CALL TO PRESERVE COLLECTIVE MEMORY
In an opinion piece in the Catholic Weekly on 25 Nov 2024, ACHS President Fr Brian Lucas supported Pope Francis’s recent call to use Church history to preserve the faith community’s collective memory.
NEW PRESIDENT FOR ACHS
Fr Brian Lucas was elected President of ACHS on 19 May 2024 … Cathnews report
MACGINLEY AWARD
The 2023 $1000 MacGinley award for work on Australian Catholic history was awarded jointly to Scott McCarthy (for ‘Federation, Sectarianism and the Catholic Middle Class in Australia’) and Monica van Gend (for ‘Confidently Catholic: The Knights of the Southern Cross and the 29th International Eucharistic Congress of 1928’). Their articles appear in the 2023 Journal.
CATHOLIC THOUGHT AND CATHOLIC ACTION BOOK
In Feb 2023, Connor Court published James Franklin’s Catholic Thought and Catholic Action: Scenes from Australian Catholic Life … Catholic Weekly story … review
ST MARY’S SYDNEY BICENTENARY
The Catholic Weekly of 23 Oct 2022 had an extended commemorative edition on the bicentenary of St Mary’s Church (later Cathedral), including extensive coverage of the world of 1821.
TRIBUTES TO RICHARD CONNOLLY
There have been many commemorations of composer Richard Connolly (1927-2022), including from the ABC. (1964 audio) (a tribute)
MEDIA RELEASE
Read here Cathnews’ July 2020 story on ACHS’s new suite of resources …. Catholic Leader story
TIMELINE AND RESOURCES
Our most popular pages are the Timeline of Australian Catholic History and other Resources pages
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land and celebrate their ongoing culture and contribution to society.
ABOUT US
OUR AIMS
Monthly meetings of the Society have been held since 1940 at which papers representing a wide spectrum of interest have been presented. The ACHS Journal publishes papers presented to the Society, book reviews and other matters of interest.
Crowds watch the Eucharistic Congress procession, Newcastle, 1938. Image credit: phototimetunnel.com.
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