Chronological Timeline of Incidents of the Bluff Parish
Please Note: Where exact date is unknown, only the year is indicated.
Date | Incident |
Approx 1872 | Arrival of Saturino do Valle from Inhambane, Mozambique |
June 1873 | First Baptism takes place |
1878 | Establishment of the Mission Station |
5th April 1880 | Purchase of 55 Hectares of Land |
July 1880 | Official opening of Chapel |
1881 | First Marriages take place |
January 1885 | Mission School Opened |
1893 | 250 Catholics on the Bluff; 2 Holy Family Sisters; 60 Children in the Mission School. |
6th October 1921 | New Mission Church foundation Stone Laid |
1950 | Marian Congress held in Durban. Holy Father Proclaims Mary Patroness of South Africa. |
1951 | Church of St. Joseph and St. Brendan Built |
August 1951 | Catholic Women’s League Started |
15th January 1953 | Decree of Erection of the Parish of St. Francis Xavier, Bluff, Durban issued by Archbishop Denis Hurley O.M.I. Archbishop of Durban |
March 1953 | St. Vincent de Paul started |
13 January 1958 | Permission granted by the Apostolic Delegate to sell land owned by the Parish in Torquay Ave. Price offered £2,700 |
15th May 1960 | First Annual Pilgrimage to the Shrine of our Lady of Natal |
1961 | Second Annual Pilgrimage to the Shrine of our Lady of Natal |
1962 | Georg Johann Lang of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany commissioned by Fr. Noel Coughlan O.M.I. to carve the Stations of the Cross for the Mission Church |
19th August1962 | Third Annual Pilgrimage to the Shrine of our Lady of Natal |
July 1963 | Land sold to Dominican Order for erection of school |
1964 | Statue of Mary Erected |
28th January 1964 | Convent School of our Lady of Natal opened for new school year |
23rd February 1964 | Official Opening of Convent School by Archbishop Denis Hurley O.M.I. |
1965 | New Hall at St. Joseph and St. Brendan built |
23rd June 1965 | Fr. Noel Coughlan celebrates his silver jubilee |
17th August 1965 | Pam Embleton receives her Habit with the name Sr. Monica Mary. |
By end of 1960’s Mission School Closes | |
19th February 1967 | First Parish Council Inducted |
1970 | Land purchased at Wentworth for the construction of a New Church |
21 June 1970 | Fr. Theo Carrington celebrates his silver Jubilee |
1971 | Fr. Derrick Butt O.M.I. ordained to the Priesthood |
20th August 1973 | Fr. Evers calls a general Parish meeting to discuss the possibility establishing one church centre at Brighton Beach |
1975 | Land at Wentworth sold |
1975 | Mission Church, Presbytery and classrooms demolished |
Church of St. Joseph and St. Brendan sold to the Church of the Latter Day Saints | |
1977 | No. 2 Sormany Road purchased for use as a Presbytery |
19th May 1977 | New Parish Church opened |
6 December 1981 | New Parish Church dedicated by Archbishop Denis Hurley O.M.I. D.D. |
Land purchased from Holy Family Sisters to build a Parish Hall | |
1986 | Hall built |
22nd July 1990 | Malcolm Wright ordained to the Permanent Diaconate by Archbishop Denis Hurley O.M.I. |
1995 | No 2 Sormany Road Sold |
1996 | New Presbytery and Classrooms completed |
18th November 2000 | Wall of Remembrance Blessed by Wilfrid Cardinal Napier O.F.M. |
June 2002 | Erection of the Cross of Love |
15 September 2002 | Blessing of Cross of love by Wilfrid Cardinal Napier O.F.M. |
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Message from Cardinal Napier | Message from Fr Stuart Bate OMI | Forward: Professor Joy Brain | Introduction | A history of the St Francis Mission | Establishment of the Church at Fynnland | The Church at Wentworth | Centralisation of St Francis Xavier and Building of the New Church | The Building of the Parish Hall | The Building of the New Presbytery | The Building of the Wall of Remembrance | The Architectural meaning of the New Church | Your Church in Rhyme by Fr Andy Slowey | The Human Contribution to the Growth of the Parish | Groups and Organisations that have contributed to the Parish | Current Groups within the Parish | Local Vocations | Awards and Recognition | An Armchair tour of the Parish | The Shrine to Our Lady of Natal | Landholdings of the Catholic Church on the Bluff | A Portrait of the Life and Times of St Francis Xavier | Picture Gallery | Timeline of incidents of the Bluff Parish
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