Catholic Progress at Auburn - 1916

The Catholic Press, Thursday 7 December 1916

CATHOLIC PROGRESS AT AUBURN,

New Church and Presbytery

OPENED BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY.

Sunday afternoon was an occasion of rejoicing on the part of the parishioners of Auburn, for his Grace the Archbishop of Sydney blessed and opened Rev. Father R. Woulfe's magnificent new church and presbytery, the foundation stones of which were laid by the Archbishop on Sunday, April 9, of the present year. The Catholics of Auburn have indeed displayed commendable zeal by the self-sacrificing manner in which they have undertaken and successfully accomplished the erection of those imposing religious edifices which have entailed the expenditure of a sum exceeding £4000. The foundation stone of the old Catholic church at Auburn was blessed by' the late Cardinal Moran over 23 years ago, but of recent years the district of Auburn has progressed to such an extent that it became imperative that additional accommodation should be provided for the ever-increasing congregation. His Grace the Archbishop journeyed from Sydney to Auburn by the 2.40 p.m. train, and on his arrival was welcomed at the local railway station by Rev. Father Woulfe and members of the church committees. His Grace was then driven to the presbytery, where he received a most enthusiastic welcome from the parishioners, who were assembled in full force. Members of the friendly societies formed an imposing guard of honour to his Grace on his arrival, and again when he emerged from the presbytery, vested in ecclesiastical robes, and proceeded to the church, where the religious ceremonies were commenced. Subsequently a public meeting was held in the church. Rev. Father Woulfe presiding. Seats were occupied within the sanctuary railings by his Grace the Archbishop, Rev. Fathers R. Woulfe, J. P. Considine, W. Stevens, T. Kenny (Granville), P. Galvin. Messrs. H.G. Bartlett, J. T. Lang, M.L.A., G. Keary, J. McEvoy, T. Row, W. Williams and T. Gannon.

The Financial Statement.

Father Woulfe was the first speaker. On behalf of himself and the parishioners he extended to his Grace a hearty welcome to Auburn. This was the fourth occasion with in the present year that the people of Au burn had been honoured by a visit from his Grace, and he (Father Woulfe) ventured to say that this latest visit was the happiest of all for them, as it was the day on which their ambitions, and hopes had been realised. The church and the presbytery were all that could be desired The lighting, ventilation, accommodation, &c, could hardly be improved upon. The buildings were a great credit to the architect, and if there was any other architect in Sydney who could put up similar buildings at the same cost, Father Woulfe would like to know of him. The speaker then proceeded to read a detailed list of receipts and expenditure, the principal items being, donations on foundation stone on April 9, £455 Is Id; other donations, £117 7s; monthly collections, £155 15s 5d; bazaar proceeds, £400. The erection of church and presbytery and sundries amounted to £4380 5s 6d. Proceeding, Father Woulfe pointed out that they had contracted a debt of £4459, and up to date £1200 had been practically paid off. Through the generosity of the people of Auburn he had no doubt that in the near future the debt would be very substantially reduced. In conclusion, Father Woulfe referred briefly to the completion of St. Mary's Cathedral, and expressed his firm conviction that the people of Auburn would not be the least generous of the parishes of the archdiocese in contributing to that worthy cause. 

The Archbishop.

His Grace the Archbishop then delivered an address. His Grace thanked Father Woulfe for his remarks regarding St. Mary's Cathedral. No parochial work yet had been in the least interfered with by the undertaking to carry on building operations at St. Mary's until the Cathedral was completed. (Applause.) Proceeding, his Grace pointed out that our churches gave us wisdom instead of folly, love instead of force, and peace instead of strife. Consequently, our churches deserved all the support we could give them. No work was more important to society than the right use of our churches. We had to acknowledge that in many things we did not see the right way at once, and sometimes we were allowed to doubt whether we were in the right or the wrong. When people viewed any question from different viewpoints there was a tendency to antagonise towards each other. That was natural. There was something in human nature which made us justify our selves in taking if we thought we could gain anything by it. That kind of thing gave us a very unpleasant life — a life in which there would be a great deal of retaliation. Religion did away with that, however. Although the Creator was not visible to the human eye, His existence was visible and tangible to our reason. God had given us a very special endowment, and that was liberty of choice, free discretion of our own will in what we would do, and so on. If people used that gift well, they would be gaining all their life in merit, and would enjoy for all eternity the merits of a good life. If we did not use the gift wisely.. God Himself told us that He must separate the good from the bad, irrespective of all other circumstances. The good would be rewarded, the wicked would be punished. If that 'feeling entered into our hearts, our hearts ? would be chastened and made wise. We should not think that this world was our only concern. True wisdom was to provide for our welfare here and in eternity. If trials came to us we should recognise the wisdom of God in sending us those trials. It was a good thing to practice humility and turn to God in all our troubles. Man was given liberty of choice. He had the liberty of doing good or not doing it. He had the liberty of doing evil, arid knowing it to be evil, and no one could hinder him. There was the weak point in our liberty. This was where religion came in and put us on our guard, and said, 'There is One Who sees and reads our hearts, and if we arc guilty of wrong-doing we shall surely pay the penalty.“ Human beings should strive, to live up to the principle of the golden rule, namely, that we should do to others as we would have others do to us. The man who had not the fear of God had no solid religion, and no man had solid religion who had not in his heart the voice of conscience, speaking to him in the name of God, and telling him of the reward and punishment which would be meted out to the good and the wicked respectively.

Advice to Masters and Men.

Employers should treat their employees just as they themselves would desire to be treated were they employees, and vice versa. Some employers' were good; others were selfish and greedy. The same could be said of employees. Sonic of the latter were thrifty and prosperous, while others were not. Some there were who preached the 'go slow' doctrine. His Grace did not like that sort of thing. It was certainly wrong, lie was strongly of opinion that the right thing to do in Australia was to let every employee have an interest in the success of the work that he helped to carry on, and let every employer give to every employee a share in his prosperity. That would combine the dashes of the community together. It was not a mere idea either. It was carried out in some Catholic countries — notably in France. We should endeavour to encourage in Australia the spirit of a mutual interest between employers and employees in the prosperity of every industry that was started.

The Subscription List.

In moving that a subscription list be opened, Mr. J. T. Lang, M.L.A., said that the kindly remarks of the Archbishop would be greatly appreciated by the people of Auburn, and would spur them on to greater efforts in the task of reducing the heavy debt on the new church and presbytery. In conclusion, Mr. Lang said he hoped the time was not far distant when they would have a curate to assist Father Woulfe to look after the parish of Auburn. (Applause.) The resolution having been carried unanimously, a collection was taken up, which realised the sum of £271. Some of the principal donations were: His Grace the Archbishop of Sydney, £25; Children ' of Mary, £1(T; Altar Society, £10; Mr. Austin McKay (architect), £10 10s; H.A.C.B. Society, £2 2s; Rev. Father R. Woulfe, £12; Mr. J. T. Lang, M.L.A., £5 5s; School Children, £5 5s. A full list of subscriptions will be published in a later issue.

Vote of Thanks.

Proceedings were then brought to a conclusion by a vote of thanks to the Archbishop, proposed by Mr. McEvoy, and carried by acclamation.

Description of New Buildings.

The new church is situated on the corner of Queen and Alice Streets, Auburn, opposite the old church property and St. Joseph's Hospital. The nave is 75 feet by 40 feet, with large sanctuary and sacristy; the walls are 22ft. Gin. high, finished externally with O.K. bricks and cement dressings; the internal walls are finished with an O.K. brick dado and frieze, the remaining walls being plastered. The slate roof is supported by open-timbered roof principals, and the ceiling lined to apex of roof. The church will accommodate 600 persons; a large gallery to accommodate 120 persons is also provided. Owing to the treacherous nature of the ground, special care was taken with the reinforcement of the foundations; the brick walls are also reinforced. The presbytery is on the same site adjoining the church, and facing Alice Street, overlooking the gardens of the hospital. The accommodation provided is: Ground floor: Reception-room, dining-room, maid's-room, bathroom, kitchen and laundry. First floor: Three bedrooms, library and bathroom. Large verandahs and balconies surround the building. The building is of brick, on reinforced concrete foundations, with slate roof. The contract price is £3998. The builder is Mr. S. G. Lipscomb, of Auburn; the architect, Mr. Austin Mc Kay, of Sydney.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/105184980