St John the Baptist Church is a

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 in

Toodyay, Western Australia Toodyay (, nys, Duidgee), known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, north-east of Perth. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding i ...

, part of a

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

of church buildings. It was built and consecrated in 1963. It is the second church of that name, replacing the one built in 1863. Aerial view of buildings in Stirling Terrace, Toodyay. The two buildings linked by a covered walkway are St. John the Baptist Church and St. Aloysius Convent of Mercy. To the right of the convent is the St. Aloysius Convent of Mercy dormitory block with the classroom block in the foreground. On the right is a house originally owned by Dr. Growse. The new church replaced the original St John the Baptist Church across the road. The older building was in poor repair, and in 1963 when the

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

railway line also came through in close proximity a decision was made to re-locate. After fundraising and support from the shire and local businesses the church was officially opened on 17 November 1963 with the blessing of M. McKeon, Auxiliary Bishop of Perth. The altar and tabernacle of the new church were donated by the O'Connor estate. A brass plaque, transferred from the former church, commemorates the contribution of the Quinlan family. Priests who have administered to the Parish since the consecration of the church are: * 1958-67 Fr John Chokolich * 1967 Fr Alex Morahan * 1968-72 Fr Carmelo Di Giorgio * 1972 Fr W. de Bruyn * 1974-81 Fr John E.C. Lisle * 1981-84 Fr Reginald Smith * 1984-86 Fr T. McDonald * 1986-92 Fr T. Hewitt * 1993-94 Fr Kevin Hay * April - Nov 1994 Fr Pat Russell Then served and cared for from Northam: * 1995-96 Fr Greg Donovan * 1997 Fr Kaz Stuglik * 1998-2000 Fr Robert Carrillo * 2001-04 Frs Stephen Casey & James D'Souza * 2004-06 Fr Geoff Aldous * 2006-11 Frs Andrew Bowron & Richard Ye Myint * 2012 Frs Dominic Savio & Richard Ye Myint * 2013 Frs Pavol Herda & Emmanuel Dimobi

References

Buildings and structures in Toodyay, Western Australia Roman Catholic churches in Western Australia Stirling Terrace, Toodyay State Register of Heritage Places in the Shire of Toodyay {{RC-church-stub