St Bernard's Parish,
Batemans Bay
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2 David Ave Batehaven, NSW, 2536.
P. O. Box 3220, Batehaven. NSW 2536
Fr Loi Viovicente
(02) 4472 4153
Contact the office for any enquiries

History

CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF ST BERNARDS PARISH BATEMANS BAY

CHRONOLOGICAL OVERVIEW OF OUR HISTORY as at  September 2017 

1857    Batemans Bay served as a regular Mass Station (Mass was celebrated in private homes)

1872    Original St Joseph’s Church Nelligen opens

1889    Both St Marys Church, Mogo and St Bernards Church, Batemans Bay, appear in the Catholic Directory: no opening dates recorded.

1896    New Brick St Joseph’s Church, Nelligen opens

1911    St Bernard’s Church, relocated to the corner of Church and Orient Streets
(present site of the National Bank)

1936    Mr W P Bill donates land for convent and school

1937    Sisters of St Joseph arrive; St Josephs School opens

1952    Batemans Bay, part of Moruya Parish changes boundaries; is transferred from the Diocese of Goulburn to the newly created Diocese of Wollongong.

1968    St Bernards officially constituted as a separate parish; Bishop T. McCabe of Wollongong appoints Fr Ferdinand Fuhlendorf, first Parish Priest; presbytery is re-located; Church is re-located to new site in Orient Street, adjacent to St Joseph’s School.

1976    Dioceses boundaries change; our parish returns to what was formerly the Diocese of Goulburn; now Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn.  St Joseph’s Church Nelligen is closed for renovations.

1977    Archbishop T. Cahill (Canberra) appoints Fr Paul Stack third Parish Priest; land is acquired in David Street Batehaven for $123,000 for future parish buildings.

1980    St Mary’s Church, Mogo is sold.

1982    St Bernards Primary School, Batehaven is opened and blessed by Archbishop E. Clancy (Canberra)

1983    Archbishop F. Carroll (Canberra) appoints Fr Henry Byrne as fourth Parish Priest

1985    First Parish Debutante Ball is held in Soldiers Club, Batemans Bay

1986    Construction begins on new St Bernard’s Church, Batehavern

1987    24th May Archbishop Francis Carroll officially opens the new Church at Batehaven.
September the Presbytery is completed as a Parish Centre with office
November - Archbishop Carroll blesses Maranatha Lodge for the Frail Aged, located on parish site adjacent to St Bernard’s Church.

1993    St Bernard’s celebrates 25 years as an independent parish; further extensions to St Bernard’s School.

1995    Carroll College Broulee opens with Mr Bill Reid as Principal of the Regional Catholic High School

2003-2005       Fr Michael Mullen replaces Fr Henry Byrne as Parish Priest on his retirement

2005-2013       Fr Tom Thornton appointed as Parish Priest

2008    Parish hosted World Youth Day pilgrims from South Korea, Samoa and Mexico

2014-2017       Fr John Armstrong appointed as Parish Priest

2017-2022    Fr Martins Aloga appointed as Parish Priest.

2023              Fr Loi Viovicente appointed as Parish Priest.   

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