Francis Xavier Gsell, OBE (30 June 1872 – 12 July 1960) was a German-born Australian

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 ...

bishop and missionary, known as the "Bishop with 150 wives". He was born at Benfeld,

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

in 1872. He was ordained as a priest in the order of the

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; la, Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis; french: Missionnaires du Sacré-Coeur) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Servant of God Jules Chevalier (182 ...

in 1896, after study in Rome. He began active missionary work in Papua in 1900, then in 1906 re-established the Catholic Church in Palmerston (now Darwin), Northern Territory. He established an Aboriginal mission on Bathurst Island in 1910 and worked there until 1938. The local

Tiwi people The Tiwi people (or Tunuvivi) are one of the many Aboriginal groups of Australia. Nearly 2,000 Tiwi people live on Bathurst and Melville Islands, which make up the Tiwi Islands, lying about from Darwin. The Tiwi language is a language isola ...

called him ''Parrakijiyali''. Though unsuccessful in converting adults, he persisted with children's education and "bought" many girls promised in marriage to older men according to tribal custom. He became known as the "Bishop with 150 wives" (also the title of his autobiography) for his activities in freeing girls from such arranged marriages, thus making it possible for them to marry men of their own age. He defended the policy against criticism by

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

leader Tom Wright, and argued that "the natives are a race committing suicide" who "cannot stand the clash with modern civilisation". Gsell was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in 1935,GSELL, Francis Xavier
, ''It's an Honour'' (Australian Government), 3 June 1935. and was Bishop of Darwin from 1938 to 1949, during which time he was influential in founding Aboriginal missions at Port Keats and

Arltunga Arltunga is a deserted gold rush town located in the Northern Territory of Australia in the locality of Hart about east of Alice Springs. It is of major historical significance as the first major European settlement in Central Australia. Earl ...

. In 1936, Gsell was involved with establishing the Tennant Creek Catholic Church, which was dismantled and moved from its previous location at Pine Creek. His collaboration with government promoted assimilation policies. As Bishop of Darwin he was in charge of the Catholic Church's share of the policy of child removals of children of mixed parentage now known as the

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...

. He defended the practice, writing "if they had families, and if they were surrounded by that love and affection family life offers to the young even amongst primitive peoples, it might be cruel. But these creatures roam miserably around the camps and their behaviour is often worse than that of native children. It is an act of mercy to remove them as soon as possible from surroundings so insecure." He retired to the

Sacred Heart Monastery The Sacred Heart Monastery in Kensington, New South Wales, is a monastery of the Catholic men's religious order, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSCs). Since its establishment in 1897 it has played a leading role in the Catholic life of S ...

in the Sydney suburb of

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

and died in 1960.

References

Book

* F.X. Gsell,
The Bishop with 150 Wives: Fifty years as a missionary
', London, 1955.

References

Book

Further reading