St Mary’s Cathedral

St Mary’s Star of the Sea Cathedral is situated in the heart of the central business district of Darwin, and is the principal church of the Diocese of Darwin.

In September 1882, four Jesuit priests, led by Fr Anthony Strele, established a Catholic Mission Station, and within a few years built a church on the site of the current Presbytery. The existing Cathedral grew out of a need for a new and larger church, as Darwin grew after the end of the 2nd World War.

The idea of the War Memorial Cathedral in Darwin was actually first mooted by war troops stationed there after St. Mary’s Church had been severely damaged in an air-raid in 1942. The troops had a close affinity with St. Mary’s while they were in Darwin. Some of the Chaplains were MSCs and the troops worshipped at St. Mary’s which was, and still is, the garrison Church.

As Darwin grew after the war, the need for a new St. Mary’s became more evident. Mr Ian Ferrier, of the firm J.P. Donoghue, Cusick and Edwards of Brisbane, designed the new building.

The first sod was turned on 16th December, 1957, and the foundation stone was blessed by Bishop O’Loughlin on 13th July, 1958. This stone was cut from a piece of crystalline metamorphosed rock from Rum Jungle, the site of the first uranium mine in the Territory. The stone shows extensive silification. It is rich in symbolism, uniting as it does what was a powerful centre of Territory development with the vital centre of spiritual inspiration. Mr Carl Johansson was in charge of building operations until 1962 when Mr John D’Arcy took over.

The Cathedral was blessed and opened by Bishop O’Loughlin on 19th August, 1962, and consecrated on 20th August, 1972. It is dedicated as St. Mary’s, Star of the Sea, and is the centre of the Church’s activity in the Diocese of Darwin. At the same time the Cathedral is a war memorial to those servicemen, Australian, American, British and Dutch, who lost their lives in the area during the war, and to the civilian residents who died in the war. The memorial character is reflected in a series of stained glass panels in the west window donated by the Australian and American Armed forces, and depicting their respective emblems.