Apostolic Prefecture of New Holland

The Apostolic Prefecture of New Holland was a short-lived Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction in colonial Australia.

History

In 1681, Fr Vittorio Riccio OP of Manila was appointed Prefect Apostolic of Terra Australis. He died in 1685.
Fr James Dixon, the first Catholic priest permitted to minister in Australia, was briefly appointed Prefect Apostolic of New Holland in 1803. It was the first official Catholic appointment in Australia.
The Prefecture was established in 1816 as an Apostolic Prefecture in Australia, a territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of the London District.
Fr Jeremiah O'Flynn was appointed and arrived in Sydney but was soon expelled by Governor Macquarie as he lacked government authorisation.
On 4 April 1819, it was suppressed and its territory merged into the then Apostolic Vicariate of Cape of Good Hope and adjacent territories.
In 1834, it would be de facto restored as Apostolic Vicariate of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land, the precursor of the present Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.