Religious Communities
Parish’s Name
- St Joseph’s, Uralla
Religious Communities throughout the Parish’s history
- Sisters of St Joseph – 1886-1965
Sisters of St Joseph
1886-1965
Originally Uralla was part of the Parish of Armidale, and was set in a growing gold mining district from 1852. The spiritual needs of the congregation were cared for by the priests of Armidale. After a parish meeting 1885 the approach was made to Mary MacKillop who left the negotiations to the NSW Provincial for the Sisters of St Joseph to establish a Catholic parochial school in Uralla. Within a month the foundation stone of the convent was laid by Bishop Torreggiani, assisted by Dean PJ O’Connor.
The Sisters commenced their school in the following January (1886) when Cardinal Moran (Sydney), assisted by Bishop Torreggiani and Bishop Murray (Maitland) blessed the convent. In their usual fashion, the Catholic people of the district met the bishops and clergy some miles out of town and escorted them into Uralla. In his address, Cardinal Moran said: “A convent in a town is a stream of limpid water in a desert, its pious teaching by holy women refreshed the thirsty sould, bieng a blessing alike to Catholics and all denominations.“
