St John's Pro-Cathedral is located at 18
Victoria Avenue in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Western Australia. It is the earliest
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church building in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
Built form
The Cathedral is constructed of
brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
that has been covered with lime render and painted ochre to resemble the colour of the original building. The
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
roof is covered with
shingles
Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. ...
. The north and south
facades are punctuated by arched windows.
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...
es have been placed at regular intervals down the length of these facades. The
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
, which was removed in 1881, has been reconstructed at the western end of the building. The western gable end is punctuated by four arched windows, a pair above the portico and a single window either side of the portico. A lean-to extension is located at the eastern end of the southern facade. Entry to this section is through an arched door on the north facade. The church windows have clear glass set in wooden
mullions
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
. Those in the lean-to section are square, four paned windows.
History
The
pro-cathedral
A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostolic ...
of St John the Evangelist is an important building in the history of the Catholic Church in Western Australia. It was the first Catholic Church and would become the first Cathedral. It was the centre of Catholic life for the first twenty years of the Catholic Church in the
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...
until the first
St Mary’s Cathedral was completed in 1865.
In 1843 approval for the request was granted from
the Vatican, and
Father John Brady, Father John Joostens (
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
priest) and Patrick O'Reilly (a
Catechist
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
) soon arrived in
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
on the ship ''Water Witch''.
Even though Brady was to stay in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
for only a short time (two months) he was able to claim a land grant for the church, on
Victoria Avenue. This was to be the site of the first Catholic
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
, the Church of St John the Apostle and Evangelist (St John's Pro-Cathedral). Construction commenced on 27 December 1843, with the foundation stone laid on 16 January 1844. In 1844 Brady left for Rome to ask for assistance and advocate the establishment of a new diocese for the
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...
.
Following Brady's arrival, as Bishop, back in Perth in January 1846, the Church of St John the Apostle and Evangelist became a cathedral as it was now the seat of a bishop.
The chair that Brady brought from Europe still remains in the Pro-Cathedral. Brady left Perth in 1852, following disputes with the
Apostolic Administrator
An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
,
Joseph Serra
Joseph C. Serra (born August 8, 1940) is an American politician who served in the Connecticut House of Representatives
The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature ...
. In 1850, Serra replaced Brady as Bishop of Perth and in 1855 he extended the building in brick to twice its original size. The church was rededicated as the Immaculate Conception. In 1856, a brick portico was added to the western side of the building.
St John's Pro Cathedral was the principal place of worship for the Roman Catholic community in Perth from 1844 until 1865. Upon its completion in 1865 the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
-style
St Mary's Cathedral replaced St John's as Perth's Catholic cathedral. The church then became known as St John's Pro Cathedral and was used by the
Christian Brothers as a school.
In 1881, St John's Pro Cathedral was renovated and used by the
Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...
, under the name of St John's Chapel, as the school chapel for
Mercedes College. In 1965 the building was "modernised" and used as a classroom for convent students and for external students studying English.
Between 1979 and 1980, work was undertaken to restore the building and remove the additions and alterations, which were unsympathetic to the original design. The buildings were then adapted for use as a museum by the Catholic Church.
Heritage value
The building is registered with the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, State Register of Heritage Places, the Register of the National Estate and is on the
City of Perth
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
's Municipal Heritage Inventory.
In accordance with the
Heritage Council of Western Australia
The Heritage Council of Western Australia is the Government of Western Australia agency created to identify, conserve and promote places of cultural heritage significance in the state.
Prior to its creation, considerable variance in policy and ...
's assessment the Cathedral has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
* it is the first and the oldest Roman Catholic church in Western Australia;
* the place is associated with the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church and the first religious orders in the State; and,
* the place is held in high regard by present-day Catholics.
Further reading
* Bourke, D. F. ''The History of the Catholic Church in Western Australia'' (Archdiocese of Perth, 1979)
* Rossen, I. ''St. John Evangelist Pro Cathedral Victoria Avenue, Perth Western Australia, A Sequential Building Study for the Purpose of Restoration'' (no date)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John's Pro-Cathedral
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1846
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Australia
Roman Catholic churches in Perth, Western Australia
Gothic Revival architecture in Perth, Western Australia
Landmarks in Perth, Western Australia
Roman Catholic cathedrals in Western Australia
State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Perth
Gothic Revival church buildings in Australia
Victoria Avenue, Perth