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St. Aloysius of Gonzaga Church, Cronulla

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Collection SummaryLocated at 5 Nicholson Parade, Cronulla, St. Aloysius has played an integral role in the life of its community and is of particular significance being the first Roman Catholic parish to be founded in the Sutherland Shire.HistoryThe 100th anniversary of St. Aloysius of Gonzaga Church parish saw generations of families, former parish priests, and Archbishop Anthony Fisher come together at a special church service with festivities continuing well into the night. The jubilant occasion contrasted with the parish’s humble beginnings where a small group of people would meet at the home of Albert and Agnes Giddings for mass every three months. The Giddings family, enterprising Cronulla pioneers and influential in shaping the popular seaside suburb, also donated a piece of land for the construction of a small church. Designed by architects Scott and Green and built at a cost £850 it was located at the western side of Nicholson Parade. Dedicated to the Italian Jesuit saint, St. Aloysius of Gonzaga, the Church was opened and blessed by Archbishop Michael Kelly on 21st June 1914.

From the outset St. Aloysius was part of the Kogarah parish which extended from Tempe to Heathcote. In 1916 when St. Declan’s parish in Penshurst was formed, the Cronulla congregation transferred again and mass was celebrated at St. Aloysius four times a year. With the community’s spiritual needs in hand, Father Michael O’Kelly of St. Declan’s sought to improve educational opportunities for the children living in the southern end of his parish. He invited the Sisters of St. Joseph to teach in Cronulla and again with funding provided by the Giddings a weatherboard cottage serving as a convent was built opposite the Church and a new school opened in 1921.

In late 1923 the Archbishop of Sydney assigned a young Irish priest, Father William Hawe, to Cronulla with the aim of setting up a new parish, and by January 1924 the first Roman Catholic parish in the Sutherland Shire was founded. Father Hawe, Priest-In-Charge of the Cronulla-Sutherland parish, ministered the Sutherland Shire from Georges River to Engadine. In 1934 St. Aloysius gained its first dedicated priest, Father Francis Lloyd, when Cronulla and Sutherland became two separate parishes. During this time improvements were made to St. Aloysius including the Cronulla Street entrance, and a sanctuary was added at the Nicholson Parade end of the Church.

While the impact of World War II affected progress in the Sutherland Shire, the post-war decade was a boom time for Catholics. In 1956 a newly appointed priest, Father John Madden, quickly realised that the St. Aloysius parish was in urgent need of a larger church. For this purpose and in addition to his many pastoral responsibilities he established a new finance committee to assist with fund-raising. A building application submitted to Sutherland Shire Council for a new church and parking was approved in 1964, the same year in which the original St. Aloysius was demolished and construction on the new church commenced.

November 1965 saw Bishop James Freeman bless and open the new St. Aloysius of Gonzaga Church which now seated 800 people. The Church was constructed in line with the modernised approach adopted by the Second Vatican Council and built at a cost of £80,000 with features including an altar facing the congregation and a large choir loft. The original marble altar, stained glass windows and large wooden cross were transferred from the old church. All outstanding debts for the new church were settled by 1974, the same year St. Aloysius celebrated its Golden Jubilee.

The Church presbytery in Nicholson Parade, the former Giddings family home, was demolished the following year, the long association with the Giddings family coming full circle and serving as a reminder that the success of local parishes depends on the toil of parish priests and generosity of congregations.

St. Aloysius of Gonzaga Church parish celebrated its centenary anniversary on the 28th of June 2024 with over six hundred people in attendance.

St. Aloysius of Gonzaga Church, Cronulla

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SubjectsSt. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church, (Cronulla, N.S.W.)Church buildings - New South Wales - CronullaCronulla (N.S.W.) -- Church historyGiddings familyHawe, William, Father,Madden, John, Father,

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