St Francis' Church is an Australian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on the corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth streets in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria. It is the oldest Catholic church in Victoria. The main body of the church (with various later additions) is one of very few buildings in central Melbourne which were built before the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

of 1851.

History

On 28 April 1839 a committee of the Catholics at Port Philip, who customarily met for prayer in the house of Peter Bodecin, wrote to Bede Polding, vicar-apostolic of New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, and the adjoining islands, requesting a priest. Polding sent Father Patrick Geoghegan OFM who had arrived from Dublin the previous December. Geoghegan landed at Williamstown on 15 May. He was the first resident Catholic priest in the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. The church's foundation stone was laid on 4 October 1841, the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of St Francis of Assisi, to whom the church is dedicated."Early history", St Francis’ Church, Melbourne
/ref> 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 unfinished St Patrick's Cathedral. 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 the Renaissance Revival style. 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.

Historic unions

In 1856, Edward de Lacy Evans married Mary Delahunty. On the first day of 1900 Marion (Bill) Edwards married Lucy Minihan.

Present day

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. Since 1929, it has been a centre of eucharistic life in the care of the

Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (), commonly known as the Sacramentinos, is a Catholic Church, Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Peter Julian Eymard. Its members use the postnominal lette ...

. A

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

was constructed in the late 1930s. The church is listed on the Victorian Heritage Inventory, with the

National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...

(Victoria), and with the

Australian Heritage Commission The Australian Heritage Commission (AHC), was the Australian federal government authority established in 1975 by the ''Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975'' as the first body to manage natural and cultural heritage in Australia until its de ...

. Although there have been many changes made to the building, including the erection of a new tower, a gift from the Grollo family, to house the original 1853 bell imported from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, the church remains essentially as it was designed by Samuel Jackson.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Francis Catholic Church, Melbourne Roman Catholic churches in Melbourne Elizabeth Street, Melbourne Buildings and structures in Melbourne City Centre Roman Catholic churches completed in 1845 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Australia 1841 establishments in Australia Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Monasteries in Australia Renaissance Revival architecture in Australia Former cathedrals