POLDING, JOHN BEDE. - Archbishop of Sydney, b. 18 Nov. 1794 at Liverpool, d. 16 March 1877 at Sydney. Left an orphan, he was adopted by his uncle J. Bede Brewer, president-general of the English Benedictines. Having entered the Benedictine Order on 15 July 1810 and taken his vows the following year, he was ordained a priest on 4 March 1819, living in the monastery of Acton until 1834.

In 1833 he was offered the bishopric of Madras, but P., pleading reasons of health, refused. Consecrated titular bishop of Gerocesarea on 27 June 1834, he accepted the apostolic vicariate of New South Wales and Tasmania and set out for Australia. Having arrived at Sydney, he immediately displayed such zealous pastoral activity as to obtain positive fruits from it for the prosperity of the Catholic faith in those distant lands. Having returned temporarily to England in 1841, he also went to Rome and proposed the establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in Australia. Indeed in 1842 the apostolic vicariate of New Holland was divided into three dioceses (Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide) and on 9 April of the same year Gregory XVI promoted P. to archbishop of Sydney and primate of Australia. Having reached Sydney in 1843 as archbishop, he was hostilely received by public opinion which, at the instigation of the Anglican Church, ill tolerated the establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in the country. He governed the archbishopric of Sydney for more than thirty years: in Sydney itself he founded the university college of St. John and at Lyndhurst that of St. Mary. He did not take part in the Vatican Council in 1870, because, having fallen ill during the journey, he was forced to return to his residence. Among his writings the following should be noted: Libellus precum ad usum sodalitatis S. Gregorii Magni sub patrocinio B. M. Virginis; Instructions and devotions for the afflicted and sick; Regula SS. P. N. Benedicti cum declarationibus ad usum monachorum S. Mariae Sydneyensis.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: C. A. Harris, s. v. in Dictionary of national biography, XVI, London 1909, pp. 18-19; G. Roger Hudleston, s. v. in Cath. Enc., XII, p. 201; H. N. Birt, Obit book of the english Benedictines from 1660 to 1912 compiled by Abbot Snow; revised, enlarged and continued by Dom Henry Norbert Birt, Edinburgh 1913, p. 169.

Silvio Furlani

@incollection{ec9_polding_john_bede, author = {Furlani, Silvio}, title = {Polding, john bede}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {1663}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/polding-john-bede} }

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Polding, John Bede

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