Новая Норчия: История, Монастырь и Трагическое Прошлое

New Norcia ('/n//ɔː//s//i//ə/) is a town in Western Australia, north of Perth, near the Great Northern Highway. It is situated next to the banks of the Moore River, in the Shire of Victoria Plains. New Norcia is the only monastic town in Australia, with its Benedictine abbey founded in 1848. The monks later founded a mission and schools for Aboriginal children. A series of Catholic colleges were created, with the school that became St Benedict's College in 1965 later gaining notoriety for being the site of sexual abuse that took place in the late 1960s and 1970s. The town has many heritage sites and places of interest. New Norcia Station, a ground station for the European Space Agency is located south of the town. Since a road bypass was complete in 2017, heavy traffic bypasses the town.

On 1 March 1846, a Benedictine mission to the local Yued Aboriginal people was started about to the north, led by the Spanish Benedictine monks Giuseppe Serra and Rosendo Salvado. Within a year the mission was moved to where the town is today and on 1 March 1847 the foundation stone of the monastery was laid. The place was named New Norcia after Norcia in Italy, the birthplace of St Benedict, home to the Monastery of Saint Benedict. Unlike the Italian town, which is pronounced , NOR cha, New Norcia is pronounced '/n//ɔː//s//i//ə/ Nor sia. A significant diversion of the Great Northern Highway completed in 2017, known as the New Norcia Bypass, diverted heavy traffic away from the buildings and town.

There were also two institutions for Aboriginal children: St Mary's (for boys) and St Joseph's (for girls), collectively known as New Norcia Mission. The children were taught mainly practical skills, and after leaving school they often worked at the Mission. The New Norcia Mission was scheduled under the Industrial Schools Act 1874, meaning that the abbot had "complete control" over the children living there. Both schools closed in 1974. St Mary's Mission, also known as St Mary's College, was founded in 1848 as a boarding school for Aboriginal boys. Some boys, including wards of state in the 1960s, were place there by the state government. In his 2021 autobiographical book God, the Devil and Me, Alf Taylor (1945–2023) recounts the horrific verbal and physical abuse meted out to Aboriginal boys living in the mission by the brothers and nuns during the 1950s and 1960s. The book was short listed for the 2022 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Indigenous Writers' Prize. St Joseph's Native School and Orphanage was founded in 1861 by the monks. Aboriginal girls and young women lived and attended school there, sometimes sent by their families, and sometimes placed there as government policy if they were children of single mothers. The school and orphanage were rebuilt in 1909.

Originally known as the New Norcia Hostel, showcasing neo classical architecture, the multifaceted New Norcia Hotel was opened in 1927 and was used for the parents of boarders at the town's colleges. It later opened to the public, and by the late 20th century, the New Norcia Hotel functioned as a pub. It closed in January 2020.

In early 2021, Andrew Forrest's company, Tattarang, via its subsidiary Harvest Road, acquired the land that the government had sold to the monks in 1949, with over changing hands for it this time. The new owners said that they were planning to meet with the traditional owners of the land, the Yued people, and discuss opportunities for training and employment. St Ildephonsus' College was opened in 1913. It operated until 1964 as St Ildephonsus' under the Marist Brothers order. From 1965 onwards, it was run by the Benedictines as St Benedict's College. In 1972, St Benedict's and St Gertrude's become co educational, with student from both colleges sharing classes, and in 1974 the two became known jointly as Salvado College. Each building was still referred to individually as St Benedict's and St Gertrude's. In 1986 Salvado College became New Norcia Catholic College, which closed at the end of 1991. The colleges were among those investigated by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse for historical accusations. The colleges were among the worst for historical accusations of child sexual abuse of any Catholic institution in Australia. Of the 53 priests who were at New Norcia between 1950 and 2010, the proportion accused of sexually abusing children was 21.5 per cent. That compares with 7 per cent nationally. The figures were contained in a report released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in February 2017. During the 1960s, 29 per cent of the clergy at New Norcia had allegedly molested or abused children at some point during their career. There were 65 claims of abuse made about New Norcia, of which 26 were about a single perpetrator. The Catholic Church paid victims $869,000 in compensation. In 2016, a trial in the District Court of Western Australia was told about perverted behaviour by monks at St Benedict's College during the 1960s and 1970s. Brother Dominic "Goofy" Benedict allegedly took indecent photographs of boys and measured one student's penis with a tape measure. Bishop Max Davis, who was acquitted by a jury, said Brother Dom would hit boys or push them up against brick walls.

The town of New Norcia has buildings in a Spanish style of architecture, along with some other historical sites. Among these are the two old boarding schools, St Ildephonsus' and St Gertrude's (both now used for accommodation and various social functions), the abbey church (containing the tomb of Rosendo Salvado), an old mill, a wine press, and the monastery itself. The town has attracted interest and tourist visits for most of its existence and as a consequence a number of guide books and histories have been produced. The visitor and information centre is in the Museum & Art Gallery. The Benedictine monks continue to occupy the monastery and are involved with most of the enterprises in the town. Also maintaining olive oil production and locally made wines, port and ale can be purchased at the community or from special outlets. Much of the New Norcia farm has been sold off to pay the costs of damages resulting from the sexual abuse of children who were residents in the boarding colleges by the Benedictine monks.

The New Norcia Museum and Art Gallery is located in the converted buildings of St Joseph's Native School. Beside displaying many Christian relics and historical paintings, the gallery hosts an exhibition of finalists for the Mandorla Art Award, the only Australian award solely for Christian religious artworks based on Bible scripture themes. In 1985 the first winner of the prize was Theo Koning with Re creation based on the theme Creation from the Book of Revelation 15:3. In 1986, 26 paintings were stolen. Several weeks later, all but one of the stolen paintings were returned. They were badly damaged, but were eventually repaired. Marc Fennell's 2023 three part documentary The Mission for SBS Television revisited the investigation into the theft, and spoke to former students at the schools.

With decreasing numbers of active colleges, and changes in the organisation of the town, some buildings and sites have been restored and incorporated into a heritage trail within the town. The following buildings are among the heritage buildings situated on the site of the monastery, which is registered on the Register of the National Estate and classified by the National Trust of Australia WA:

There are two pipe organs located within the abbey buildings. In the Abbey Church of the Holy Trinity is a large German organ, built in 1922 by Albert Möser of Munich, with 34 speaking stops. The organ was designed in consultation with the abbey organist, Dom Stephen Moreno. The second pipe organ, of 11 speaking stops and much more modern in style, is located in the oratory chapel. This organ was built in 1983 by Bellsham Pipe Organs.

The New Norcia Station, a ground station for the European Space Agency, is located south of the town.