The Benedictines, New Norcia, were a group of Catholic male religious who established a settlement, mission and monastery at New Norcia in 1846. They ran the Subiaco Boys’ Orphanage for a few years (1872-1876), but the main institutions they were associated with were St Joseph’s Native School and Orphanage and St Mary’s Mission at New Norcia, and the Drysdale River Mission and Kalumburu in the north west of Western Australia. Their association with out of home care finished in 1982. In 2014, the Benedictines continued to operate a monastery in New Norcia.
The area now known as New Norcia in Western Australia, was settled in 1846 by two exiled Spanish monks, Joseph Serra and Rudesind Salvado, from St Martin’s Abbey, Compostella. They had volunteered for foreign mission work and were sent to Australia in 1846 and settled in Aboriginal lands in an area approximately seventy miles north of Perth, which they called New Norcia in honour of St Benedict’s birthplace. A number of outlying mission stations were established. Dom Serra became coadjutor to the Bishop of Perth in 1848, and Dom Salvado was made Bishop of Port Victoria in 1849, in addition to remaining superior of New Norcia. New Norcia was made an abbey in 1867 with a diocese attached.
The Benedictines, New Norcia ran St Joseph’s Native School and Orphanage and St Mary’s Mission at New Norcia, and the Drysdale River Mission and Kalumburu in the north west of Western Australia. Their association with out of home care finished in 1982. In 2014, the Benedictines continued to operate a monastery in New Norcia.
