A Parish Since 1941

The original School/Church was built on High Street in 1872 and Masses were said by a priest from St. Mary’s.  The Rural School, catering for between 26 to 55 pupils, was run by lay teachers. In 1916 a timber Church was built.   St. Catherine’s Orphanage for girls and St. Augustine’s Orphanage for boys, both located in Highton, opened in 1928.

St. Bernard’s was constituted as a Parish in 1941, incorporating Barwon Heads, Torquay, Breamlea, Marshall and Highton.  Fr. John Duggan was appointed Parish Priest. In 1950 the hall was built by the parishioners and it was used as the local Pix Theatre, with the first movie shown being “The Seven Year Itch”. A Passionist Monastery was established in Highton in 1955, followed by St. Therese’s Church in Torquay in 1959. Fr. Steele was appointed Parish Priest of St. Bernard’s in the same year.

Disaster in the form of a large fire occurred in 1960 when the Church was burnt down, the result of children playing with matches in the sacristy.  Mass was conducted in the hall until the new Church was built. Fr. Patrick O’Gorman, an ex-Army Chaplain, was appointed Parish Priest in 1963 and on some occasions during that year Mass was held on the site of the old church. In 1964 the new Church, built for the cost of fifty-seven thousand pounds, was opened by Archbishop Justin Simonds, with over two thousand people attending during that weekend. The Archbishop commented on the Mass being in English with the altar closer to the people – two of the changes to the Mass implemented following the Second Vatican Council.   A new Presbytery was built in High St., Belmont, by E.J. Lyons & Sons in 1966 after the Fowler family’s home was demolished.

In 1971 land in Thornhill Rd., Highton was donated to the Parish from St. Catherine’s Orphanage for a school to be built. The school was opened in 1972 and was called Mercia by the first Principal, Sr. Angela Carroll R.S.M.   Extensions to the school were built in 1973. That same year Fr. Joseph O’Keefe, also an ex- Army Chaplain, was appointed as the new Parish Priest. All children at St. Catherine’s Orphanage were moved into either Foster Homes or Family Group Homes in 1975. Thornhill Road was sealed in 1976 and a school crossing installed.  Creek bed filling and drainage were completed to create a playing oval. Five hundred trees were planted.  The Mercy Order left Mercia and Kevin Higgins was appointed Principal in 1977.

 Fr. O’Keefe became ill, and after his death in 1977 Fr. Peter Conroy was appointed as Administrator. The following year, 1978, Fr. Michael Fitzpatrick was appointed the new Parish Priest. He formerly had been an assistant under Fr. Steele. Grovedale became the Parish of Nazareth, incorporating Torquay in 1980 and Fr. Bill Gill was appointed Parish Priest (at that time he was the assistant at St. Bernard’s). The Passionist Monastery in Highton was sold in 1983. In 1984 St. Augustine’s Orphanage re-located to Whittington, catering for boys with special needs. Fr. Peter Foley, a former student at St. Joseph’s College, was appointed Parish Priest in 1985.

In 1989 a Parish meeting was held to discuss the re-location of the Parish. The opportunity to re-locate arose when the former South Barwon Technical School in Reynolds Rd., Belmont was up for sale.  It was duly purchased by the Parish in 1997. This enabled the two Parish Schools to re-locate and merge, and there was an area available to build a new Church. In 1998 the school was refurbished, and the parents, students and parishioners walked from the existing schools, St. Bernard’s and Mercia, to the new School - named Clairvaux. The name was derived from the Parish Patron Saint - St Bernard of Clairvaux located in France where he had established a monastery. The Parish Magazine first published in 1979 had been titled Clairvaux but now became The Beehive.

 A Parish meeting held in December 2000 endorsed the proposal to re-locate the Church to the Fryers Rd. site.   Subsequently St. Bernard’s site in High St. was sold (an Aldi store now sits there).  In 2001 plans were drawn for the new Church to be built adjacent to Clairvaux school. A parish house in Amoore Ave., Highton was purchased adjacent to the school and the Diamond Jubilee of the Parish was celebrated. The Parish Offices began working from the new site in 2002. February 2003 saw the demolition of the existing Church, Hall and Presbytery. There was no longer a Catholic presence on the Belmont hill after 132 years. Mass was again celebrated in the school hall whilst the new Church was built. 

 On Sunday, May 18th 2003 Fr. Peter Foley celebrated the first Mass in the new church and on June 8th Archbishop Denis Hart conducted the official opening and blessing. St Bernard’s new church had a seating capacity of 500 with space for another 250 in the glassed entrance area. Seats, altar, lectern, tabernacle and baptismal font were brought from the old St. Bernard’s. Two bluestone steps from the 1914 church in High Street form the threshold to the new church. In 2004 St. Patrick’s, Mt. Moriac, became a part of St. Bernard’s Parish. To complement the new church, a rose garden was established with parishioners able to purchase a rose and a memorial plaque to recognise the death of a loved one.  In addition there is now a memorial wall on the driveway in the church grounds for deceased parishioners’ ashes.

Fr. Peter Foley celebrated his last Mass before his retirement on May 15th 2011, followed by an International Lunch and entertainment. During his time at St. Bernard’s, Fr. Peter became very involved in the “Mannya Project” for the mission parish in Uganda, which involved financial aid and support. Fr. Vincent Jewell was appointed Parish Priest following Fr. Foley’s retirement. He celebrated his first Mass on the 29th May 2011 but he wasn’t able to continue with his ministry and resigned on May 14th 2018. St. Patrick’s Church at Mt. Moriac was decommissioned and sold on 11th February 2017. On January 9th 2019, Fr. Sang Ho took up his appointment as Administrator of St. Bernard’s and was appointed Parish Priest the following year. 

 St. Bernard’s Parish had a large involvement in sport with its many clubs: Badminton, Baseball, Cricket, Tennis, Table Tennis, Football (later became the East Belmont Football Club), and Little Athletics.

 The First Parish Council began in 1969.  It was replaced with a Pastoral Planning Team in 1989 with Area Representatives but eventually became a Parish Pastoral Council. The ladies of the Parish met regularly as St. Bernard’s Ladies Auxiliary and a Widows Group commenced in 1991. A Youth Group and Passionist Family Groups have also played a part in St. Bernard’s Parish life. The Parish magazine was first published in 1979, with three editions each year. It became a source of information with items that focused on people of interest, groups, Parish functions, occasionally an obituary and a guide to all the Parish Activities and contacts.