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.