St Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, currently Cardinal Archbishop George Pell. The cathedral is dedicated to 'Mary, Help of Christians', Patron of Australia. St Mary's holds the title and dignity of a minor basilica, bestowed upon it by Pope Pius XI in 1930. It is the largest church in Australia, though not the highest. It is located on College Street in the heart of Sydney where its imposing structure and twin spires create a landmark from every direction.

In 1820 that the Reverends Conolly and Therry arrived from England to minister to the Roman Catholics in Australia, many of them Irish political prisoners. Conolly went to Tasmania and Therry remained in Sydney. Father Therry applied for a grant of land on which to build a church. He requested land on the western side of Sydney, near Darling Harbour, but was allocated a site overlooking Hyde Park.

Governor Macquarie laid he foundation stone of the new church on 29th October, 1821. It was a simple cruciform stone structure which paid homage to the rising fashion for the Gothic style in its pointed windows and pinnacles. In 1835, the Most Reverend John Polding became the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia. In 1851 the church was modified to the designs of Augustus Welby Pugin. Father Therry died on 25th May, 1864. On 29th June, 1865, the church caught fire and was destroyed.

A temporary wooden church was built but it was also destroyed by fire in the summer of 1869. The third temporary provision was a sturdy brick building on the site, not of the cathedral but of St Mary's School, which it was to serve long after the present structure was in use.

The foundation stone for the present cathedral was laid in 1868.
Chrological History

• 1788 - Sydney is founded as a British convict settlement. Catholics are among the convicts and soldiers.
  
• 1820 - The first official Catholic Chaplains to the colony, Fr John Therry and Fr Philip Conolly arrive on May 3.
  
• 1821 - The foundation stone of the first St Mary's Chapel is laid by Governor Lachlan Macquarie and blessed by Fr Therry. The site of the chapel is near the convict barracks, on the edge of the town.
  
• 1835 - Sydney's first bishop, John Bede Polding OSB, arrives on September 13, as Vicar Apostolic of New Holland. St Mary's Chapel becomes his Cathedral.
  
• 1842 - Polding becomes first Archbishop of Sydney.
  
• 1851 - Work on extensions to the Cathedral commences, to designs by A W N Pugin, the celebrated English architect and promoter of a more correct gothic style.
  
• 1865 - The first St Mary's Cathedral is ruined by fire on the evening of June 29.
  
• 1868 - The foundation stone of a new Cathedral is blessed by Archbishop Polding. The new Cathedral is to be an outstanding example of gothic revival architecture, designed by William Wilkinson Wardell.
  
• 1877 - Roger Bede Vaughan OSB becomes Archbishop of Sydney.
  
• 1882 - The incomplete northern section of the new Cathedral is opened and dedicated.
  
• 1885 - Patrick Francis Moran becomes third Archbishop of Sydney, and is soon created Australia's first Cardinal.
  
• 1900 - The opened section and central tower are completed and dedicated.
  
• 1905 - Free of debt, the Cathedral is solemnly consecrated.
  
• 1911 - Archbishop Michael Kelly succeeds Cardinal Moran.
  
• 1928 - Construction of the nave completed, and Archbishop Kelly opens the almost-complete Cathedral on Sept. 2nd.
  
• 1930 - Pope Pius XI bestows on the Cathedral the title and dignity of a Minor Basilica.
  
• 1940 - Norman Thomas Gilroy, first Australian-born Archbishop of Sydney succeeds Archbishop Kelly and becomes Cardinal in 1946.
  
• 1970 - Pope Paul VI visits Sydney, celebrating Mass in the Cathedral.
  
• 1971 - Archbishop (later Cardinal) James Freeman succeeds Cardinal Gilroy.
  
• 1983 - Cardinal Freeman retires and Archbishop Edward Bede Clancy is appointed Archbishop of Sydney, being created Cardinal in 1988.
  
• 1986 & 1995 - Pope John Paul II visits St Mary's Cathedral.
  
• 1998 - 2000 - The Spires, designed by Wardell, are built.
  
• 2001 - St Mary's is the location for the celebration of the Ninth World Day of the Sick.
  
• 2001 - Cardinal Clancy retires and Archbishop George Pell is appointed Archbishop of Sydney, becoming Cardinal in October 2003.
  
• 2008 - St. Mary's Cathedral visited by Pope Benedict XVI who attended World Youth Day in Sydney.

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