Bishop James Quinn

In 1869 Quinn left for the Vatican Council at Rome. He was elected to two minor commissions of the council, neither of which ever met, and saw something of the Italian attack on Rome. During the council recess he visited Ireland but his efforts to recruit priests for his diocese were foiled by wide circulation of his authoritarian reputation and he had to be content with Italians. On his return to Brisbane in May 1872 Quinn, suffering from rheumatism, faced new problems. His Italian recruits, already at loggerheads with his administrator, Dr Cani, had complained to Rome. Unlike Mother Mary Vincent Whitty, Mother Mary MacKillop, of the order of St Joseph, refused to submit to Quinn's demand for rigid episcopal control of the order and in 1875 her withdrawal of the order from Queensland aroused violent public controversy both within and without the church. In 1877 another group of dissident priests compiled and circulated a Syllabus Accusationum of twenty-one charges against Quinn which included nepotism, intemperance and undue accumulation of land. The syllabus and a counter-petition, the signatures to which were allegedly inspired by pressure from Quinn, were referred by Rome to Archbishop Vaughan for report. Between 1878 and 1880, Vaughan laboured mightily to find the truth through a personal mission by Sir John O'Shanassy in 1878 and what was virtually a system of espionage through prominent clerics and laymen. Before the matter was resolved, Quinn fell ill on the way to Hobart and died at Brisbane on 18 August 1881. In a fervour of Irish nationalism after the Daniel O'Connell centenary of 1875, he had taken to calling himself O'Quinn; his death was registered in that form.

Quinn's piety, zeal and energy had never been in doubt, but in his almost monarchical idea of the episcopal office he frequently lost sight of some of the fundamental principles of Christianity. Curiously, he was not bigoted and was often censured by other members of his church for undue familiarity with Protestants. He may have been guilty of nepotism but charges of intemperance and an enormous personal fortune were probably groundless. His will left all his possessions to the church.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral

The stones of St Stephen's Cathedral are silent witnesses to the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of generations of Catholic families.

In the quiet corners of this cathedral, those who shed tears of regret have found peace, those who sighed with weariness have gone out with new strength, those who were lost have discovered a way. Under the arches of this building, candles of hope and trust have flickered through the years. Here, those in love have pledged to be true to one another all the days of their lives. Here, they have brought their children to be baptised and confirmed as followers of Christ. Here, they have said their last farewell to those whose death they mourn. Here, on countless occasions, the local Church has gathered around the bishop to celebrate its unity in the Eucharist.

The cathedral takes its name from the ‘cathedra’ or bishop's seat, symbol of the chief pastor and teacher of the local Church. In the cathedral, parish communities find a sign of their fellowship with each other and the expression of their unity with the Church throughout the world. The cathedral is therefore not only an important place for those who use it regularly, but for the whole city of Brisbane as it provides a sanctuary and an oasis of green that invites people to rest awhile.

HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL

Building a cathedral often takes centuries. In addition, the great cathedrals of the world rarely follow a single style. They bear the marks of every century as people added, embellished or replaced part of the cathedral in their own style. The changes of style themselves are witness to a living tradition of faith in that place.