OIU Newsletter September 2026

It was wonderful to see so many of you at the Jesuit Mission Bazaar on Saturday.

Many of you, like me, still think of it as the Indian Bazaar, reflecting the origins of this wonderful community event. In 1951, the newly established Australian Province of the Society of Jesus was entrusted with the responsibility of the Hazaribagh mission, in north-east India, about 400 kilometres north-west of Kolkatta. This area had previously been cared for by the Belgian Jesuits, operating out of Ranchi. So in 1951, 6 Australian Jesuits set sail for India. Many of them were alumni of the Jesuit schools and their family and friends wanted to support this new, exciting and daring mission for the Australian Jesuits. This led to establishment of two big community fairs designed to financially support these new works – the Indian Bazaar here at Riverview and the Maytime Fair held at Xavier College. 

Over the next two decades, 56 Australian and New Zealand Jesuits were missioned to the Hazaribagh mission, including a number of Riverview Old Boy Jesuits - Hans Hendriks SJ, Paddy Meagher SJ, Tony Herbert SJ and Geoff Meagher SJ. Today, there are three elderly Australian Jesuits still working there, including Fr Tony Herbert SJ. The Hazaribagh mission has evolved and is now a Province in its own right with 168 Jesuits, including 101 Jesuit priests. There are a number of large high schools, educating more than 25,000 students, as well as 12 parishes assisting 694 villages across the two dioceses of Hazaribagh and Daltonganj.  There is also a university college in Mahaundanr, a beautiful and remote valley in western part of the Province. There are a number of Jesuits who work to empower the Dalit people to protect their land rights, especially against intrusion by large mining companies. 

Over 175 years ago, the Jesuit presence in Australia began as a mission of the Austrian Jesuits and then later of the Irish Jesuits. The first Jesuits arrived in Australia in December 1848, accompanying a group of Catholics from Silesia, in modern day Austria. It was the Year of Revolutions in Europe, including in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Jesuit Provincial of Austria missioned Fr Aloysius Kranewitter SJ and Fr Max Klinkowstroem SJ, to be chaplains to a group of 146 Catholics, recruited by Mr Franz Weikert, emigrating to Australia. Mr Weikert's vision was to escape the unrest in Europe and to establish a Catholic community in South Australia, similar to some of the Lutheran communities in the Barossa Valley. 

Fr Klinkowstroem SJ was ordained a priest in 1846 and Fr Kranewitter SJ was ordained two years later, just six weeks before they departed Europe. The first weeks and months in South Australia were difficult. Bishop Murphy of Adelaide had not been expecting their arrival and he indicated that he did not have much need of them at the time. Nonetheless, Fr Klinkowstroem SJ initially ministered to a number of Irish Catholic families in Adelaide, however, his health declined and he ultimately returned to Europe. 

Meanwhile, 6 days after arriving in Adelaide, Mr Weikert and a much smaller number from the original group of immigrants headed north to the Clare Valley with Fr Kranewitter SJ. At the time, the Clare Valley was northern most part of the fledgling colony in South Australia. It was attractive to Weikert as the leases were the cheapest in the colony. 

Initially Mr Weikert and his family, along with Fr Kranewitter, lived on a leased property, in a log and clay pise house. In April 1849, two Jesuit brothers, Brother Johannes Baptiste Schreiner SJ and Brother George Sadler SJ, arrived in South Australia. The two of them became instrumental in the development of the Jesuit mission in Sevenhill. The expansion of the Jesuit presence led to Fr Kranewitter SJ leasing another nearby property and the Sevenhill property was purchased on 28 January 1851. 

Last weekend, we celebrated 175 years of Jesuit presence at Sevenhill, just south of Clare. In those first three decades, it was the base for the Jesuit mission in South Australia. The first Jesuit school was established there, as well as a seminary and the Jesuit novitiate. 

The College at Sevenhill was under the patronage of Saint Aloysius. It was a vibrant centre of learning for three decades, however, the opening of two Jesuit boarding schools by the Irish Jesuits – Xavier College, Melbourne in 1878 and our own school in 1880 led to the closure of the school in Sevenhill. In addition to this, the establishment of Saint Patrick's Seminary in Manly in 1889 led to the closure of the seminary at Sevenhill. 

Between 1857 and 1885, 17 men completed their training for the priesthood at Sevenhill, including Fr Julian Tennison Woods. Along with Saint Mary MacKillop, they are the co-founders of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart (the Josephites). In addition to this, 25 young men began their Jesuit life at Sevenhill, including a number of former students of the College on site. The ruins of the Weikert Cottage are still present on the Sevenhill property. 

Today, there are three ministries operative at Sevenhill- Sevenhill Cellars which produces sacramental wine and table wines; the historic St Aloysius' Church and the Retreat house which operates from the old College and on an adjacent property. 

The first Irish Jesuits arrived in Melbourne in 1865. Fr Joseph Dalton SJ, who is buried in our Dalton Chapel, arrived the following year as the superior of the Irish Jesuit Mission. In the first years in Melbourne, they took over the running of Saint Patrick's Cathedral School, as well as assuming responsibility for the parish of Richmond. Over the next 13 years, they began preparations for the establishment of Xavier College in Kew and also established the parish in nearby Hawthorn. 

In 1879, through the invitation of Archbishop Vaughan, the Irish Jesuit mission expanded to Sydney with the opening of St Aloysius' College in 1879, our College in 1880, as well as the Jesuits taking on the responsibility for the North Sydney parish. 

In 1870, the Irish Jesuits in Melbourne approached the Austrian Jesuits in Sevenhill about the possibility of one them moving to Melbourne to minister to the German speaking migrants in Melbourne, especially in Heidelberg and Nunawading. After spending two decades in Sevenhill, building the mission from nothing, Fr Kranewitter SJ was chosen for the new mission in Melbourne. 

Bishop Greg O'Kelly SJ, the Headmaster of our College from 1982-1993, wrote the following about Fr Kranewitter's achievements in Sevenhill:

He had seen his prayer for "patience, courage and hope" bear fruit. He had seen the Mission that he had founded grow from a grass-thatched hut with a dirt floor, home for the three pioneers, to one which in that year of 1870 numbered at Sevenhill a Jesuit community of sixteen, being seven priests, six Brothers and three scholastics, with a further two priests and one Brother at the new foundation at Norwood in Adelaide. By 1870 the Mission was serving ten churches with thirteen dependent Mass Stations founded from Sevenhill, and a new Residence about to be founded at Manoora. At Sevenhill the fields were planted extensively with vines and orchards and produce to support their works. 

In those first two decades, the Austrian Jesuits were creative and dedicated, using the soil to grow produce to help support themselves, while also ministering to the far flung Catholic population of northern South Australia. 

Upon his arrival in Melbourne, Fr Kranewitter SJ lived in the Jesuit Community at Richmond Parish, along with Fr Dalton SJ. A lovely joining of our story with the story of the first Jesuit to come to Australia. 

As we remember and celebrate the presence of Jesuits at Sevenhill for the last 175 years, we turn our mind to the vision, passion and energy of Fr Dalton as we prepare to celebrate 150 years of Jesuit education in Melbourne and Sydney in the coming years, culminating with the sesquicentenary of the establishment of our College in 2030. 

Wishing you all every blessing.