The death of Archbishop Roger Bede Vaughan.(Biography)

The name of Roger Bede Vaughan is not as well known among Sydney Catholics as that of his English Benedictine predecessor, John Bede Polding, or his illustrious Irish successor, Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran. Indeed, at first sight Patrick O'Farrell's sad assessment of Vaughan's episcopate seems substantially correct: 'The appropriate panegyrics were spoken and then the name of Vaughan vanished, almost in some quarters as if it had never been'. (1) Since those words were first written in 1977, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in the achievements of Archbishop Vaughan. This development has arisen partly as a consequence of O'Farrell's own pioneering work on the disputes between English and Irish factions in the colonial church of New South Wales, but has been further fuelled by several negative assessments of Vaughan's episcopate over the last ten years, and most recently by the more positive comments made during last year's celebrations for the 125th anniversary of the solemn opening of St Mary's Cathedral by Vaughan in September 1882. (2) This year the Sydney Archdiocese marks another 125th anniversary: the death of Archbishop Vaughan in England on 18 August 1883. This occasion presents an opportunity to reassess a little-explored avenue in Australian Catholic history, but one which nevertheless had an enormous impact on the church in New South Wales and beyond, for Vaughan's death at the early age of forty-nine cleared the way for the appointment of an Irish successor.

When Roger Bede Vaughan departed from Sydney at the beginning of his ad limina visit to Rome on 19 April 1883 he was at the peak of his powers as Archbishop of Sydney. He had arrived as coadjutor to Archbishop Polding in 1873 at a time of deep division and considerable despair within the Catholic Church in New South Wales. Internecine strife had broken out between Polding and his suffragan bishops in the late 1860s, the old St Mary's still lay in ruins after the disastrous fire of 1865 with only the foundations of the new cathedral completed, and threats to Catholic education from powerful agents of secularism were already gathering force in the New South Wales legislature. By the time of his accession as archbishop in 1877, however, Vaughan had managed to galvanize the bishops, clergy and laity of his province into a united front against these secularising tendencies, numerous new churches and schools had been opened, and it was widely felt that the Catholic Church was on an upward trajectory. During his six years as archbishop he worked assiduously on expanding the number of Catholic schools and, after the passage of the Public Education Act of 1880, the provision of religious teaching orders to staff the new schools became one of his highest priorities. His tireless work in raising funds for numerous building projects was legendary, but his first priority had always been the completion of his cathedral, and on 8 September 1882 he presided at the triumphal opening of the magnificent new St Mary's, the largest ecclesiastical building in the colony. The esteem which Sydney's Catholics had for their archbishop can therefore be readily appreciated, and his farewell in Sydney Harbour was on a scale to match his achievements. The Freeman's Journal reported on the vast crowds that gathered on that day: Vaughan's carriage had to be driven from the cathedral to Circular Quay at walking pace, with 'large numbers of people walking at either side ... All the windows and balconies along Macquarie-street were filled with people, and the streets were lined with spectators.' Great cheers rose up as he boarded his steamer and numerous dignitaries went out to the ship to say their last farewells before The City of New York slipped its moorings and made a stately progress out of the harbour. With many 'ringing cheers' and escorted by a flotilla of smaller launches full of well-wishers, Vaughan's ship made its way through the Heads and out to sea. (3) Archbishop Vaughan would never see Australia again.

While the majority of Sydney's Catholics therefore appear to have been quite satisfied with Vaughan's performance as their bishop on the eve of his departure for Europe, there were others who were highly critical of the way in which he had conducted his relations with the other dioceses within the Sydney province. (4) In July 1883, while Vaughan was making his way across America, an anonymous pamphlet appeared in Melbourne claiming that there was an Anglo-Italian conspiracy against the Irish clergy of Australia which was being led by the 'arch-conspirator of Sydney' and aided by 'Archiepiscopal informers' who were interfering in the proper government of the church. Vaughan was identified by name as 'the colonial head and front of the anti-Irish conspiracy in Australia' and it was alleged that the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith was implicated in attempts to override canon law. The anonymous author of the pamphlet, who called himself 'Scrutator', claimed that Vaughan's recent begging letters for the completion of St Mary's Cathedral had been both irregular and uncanonical, and had afforded him opportunities to plot and interfere in the affairs of sees other than his own as the 'agent of Propaganda in Australia'. He went on to suggest that Vaughan's purpose on his forthcoming visit to Rome was to join with the English Cardinals Manning and Howard 'to assist Propaganda in framing another politico-religious coercion act for the Irish in Ireland, America, Australia, and wherever else the Irish people are to be found'. (5) While these opinions were clearly an example of what O'Farrell called 'Irishism carried to the extreme of absurdity', it cannot be denied that corners of virulent anti-Vaughan sentiment did exist in the Australian church in 1883. (6) It seems certain, however, that such opinions were shared by only a small minority of disgruntled Irishmen who were incensed at the success which the English Vaughan had achieved during his short episcopate.

Vaughan was certainly aware of minority views in his own diocese along the lines of those expressed by 'Scrutator' in Melbourne, but he put these behind him as he continued the daily grind of pastoral work. His final months in Australia were full of activity and travel. In early January he set out with his Benedictine confrere Fr Anselm Gillett on visitation to the Illawarra and southern districts of the archdiocese before returning to Sydney in time for Holy Week at the end of March. During his absence in the country, the Catholics of Sydney met at the Town Hall on 30 January under the chairmanship of Sir Patrick Jennings to arrange a testimonial for their archbishop. They ultimately succeeded in raising 2,400 [pounds sterling] which was presented to Vaughan at a public reception two days before his departure. He also received handsome testimonials and numerous purses of sovereigns wherever he went during the course of his last visitation and at the various schools and churches he visited in and around Sydney in the week before his departure. (7) On the evening of Tuesday 17 April, Vaughan presided at the final meeting of the St Mary's Building Fund Committee in a cathedral packed with well-wishers. The archbishop handed over a personal cheque for 991.16s.11d [pounds sterling]. which completely extinguished the remaining debt on the building, and sums of 180 [pounds sterling] for an Australian Holy Catholic Guild Memorial Window and 1,000 [pounds sterling] towards the cost of a new organ were acknowledged. He then received several testimonials and made a very affecting farewell speech in which he said that his departure from Sydney lacked the joy and elation of 'a school-boy who is going home' because he felt 'a kind of sadness ... as if I were leaving home in leaving you'. He thanked the people for the happiness and pleasure they had given him as co-workers and wished them 'a most affectionate and a most loving farewell' in the following terms:

 
   I feel an attraction simply to say with all love and all 
   affection--good-bye. It is a painful, a sad thing to say, but we 
   have to say good-bye from time to time, and at last we have got to 
   say good-bye altogether, so it is well for us to practise ourselves 
   in saying it, and I think you are giving me a pretty good trial of 
   it on this occasion. (8) 

It has been suggested that Vaughan already had intimations of death even before he left Sydney, and this speech does have a brooding sadness about it. His Redemptorist uncle, Fr Edmund Vaughan, also seemed to have similar forebodings for he wrote from Singleton on the eve of his nephew's departure saying 'I cannot let you leave without a line to say adieu--perhaps forever'. (9)

Virtually every priest in the diocese travelled to Sydney for the archbishop's departure. A clergy meeting was held in St Mary's presbytery in the late morning so that Vaughan could give 'parting instructions and words of advice' to his priests, and then the assembled clergy processed into the cathedral for the office of Itinerarium, after which the archbishop proceeded to Circular Quay. The City of New York's first port of call after leaving Sydney was Auckland where the clergy of the whole diocese had gathered to welcome Vaughan. Unfortunately the steamer was late arriving on 25 April so the planned festivities did not take place and the ship slipped back out to sea early the next morning, several senior members of the clergy having been allowed on board to meet Vaughan just after midnight. (10) The next three weeks were spent restfully on board ship as it made its way across the Pacific Ocean to California. Vaughan arrived in San Francisco on Thursday 17 May and was immediately caught up in the rush and excitement of the West's most populous city. Upon arrival he was interviewed by the Catholic newspaper, The Monitor, whose reporter found him to be in good form after his sea voyage: 'a splendid picture of stalwart manhood ... well proportioned and robust in appearance', dressed in knee-breeches and silk stockings reminiscent of the costume of the bishops in England. He was asked about the Pope's recently issued circular letter to the Irish bishops and whether it was indicative of a new policy in Rome aimed at attracting aristocratic English converts at the expense of Ireland's interests. Vaughan was indignant at the suggestion that the Pope might have acted out of mere expediency and assured the reporter that Leo XIII wished the Irish well 'and has deeply at heart the good of the Irish people whom he loves'. (11) Vaughan had been dealing with similar issues of Irish nationalism for ten years in Sydney and clearly knew exactly how to deal with the press. The following Sunday he preached 'a very instructive discourse' at the cathedral explaining the 'beautiful harmony' of the daily office of the church, followed by a 'very impressive explanation' of the parable of the banquet, and ending with a 'strikingly graphic picture of the Crucifixion'. His 'magnificent presence in the pulpit' had the same edifying effect on the Californian congregation as his sermons in Sydney, and it was reported that 'his full round voice' and his delivery in a 'clear-cut English style which drives conviction into the heart of every hearer' produced a style of preaching that was 'at once oratorical, incisive and impassioned'. (12)