Bishop Martin Crane & Bishop Stephen RevillePrint Page

St Augustine`s Chapel is a memorial to the Augustinian Bishops Martin Crane and Stephen Reville.

Martin Crane OSA, DD (11 October 1818 – 21 October 1901), an Irish-born Australian suffragan bishop, was the first Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Sandhurst, serving between 1874 until his death in office in 1901. He greatly expanded the Diocese of Sandhurst in Victoria, increasing the number of resident priests and building new schools and churches.

In 1885 Stephen Reville O.S.A. was ordained as Coadjutor Bishop to Dr. Crane. For the next sixteen years he would bear a great deal of the responsibility of the Diocese of Sandhurst. Finally, on the 21st of October 1901 he succeeded as Bishop of Sandhurst.

At the age of 72, on the 19th of September 1916,  Bishop Reville died from pneumonia, supervening on an attack of pleurisy, while still in office. He was the last Augustian bishop of Victoria. The diocese at this time extended over 22 parishes, 11 of which had convents and schools in them. He was held in high esteem by all sections of the community.

Enlargements to the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bendigo would be carried out as much as possible by local labor and with local materials, Dr. B. D. Stewart, Bishop of Sandhurst, announced today. In a pastoral letter, Dr. Stewart appealed for financial support for the cathedral work. He said the Church authorities planned to add side chapels, sacristies, a sanctuary, and a 300-foot spire to the building. He said the use of local labor and materials would be a "practical way of showing our faith in the city and its future." Dr. Stewart said completion of the cathedral had been delayed for years because of the need to provide churches, schools, and institutions in the diocese. It was proposed that the cathedral chapels commemorate special events in the life of the diocese. There would be chapels of St Francis Xavier, Our Lady Help of Christians, St. Augustine, and St Patrick. The cathedral sanctuary would be a memorial to Dr Henry Backhaus, pioneer priest and founder of the parish of Bendigo. 
Argus (Melbourne),  27 July 1953.

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