The discovery of gold is the reason for the foundation of the City of Bendigo, once called Sandhurst, and subsequently, the establishment of the Diocese of Sandhurst. It was gold that enabled the first priest in the district to amass a vast fortune and which enabled the building of the most significant landmark in the city – Sacred Heart Cathedral – a huge gothic revival building that appears out of place in the countryside of regional Victoria.

From the earliest days, it has been said that it was built with funds from the Backhaus estate. Some suggest Backhaus specifically left his estate to the diocese for the purpose of building a cathedral. The truth is a little more nuanced. Sacred Heart Cathedral was built from the proceeds of the Backhaus estate, but Backhaus' Will makes no specific mention of the purpose to which the income from the estate may be used but and it specifically exclude Bishop Crane from accessing the fortune. Yet it was Crane who commissioned the Cathedral.

This paper examines the significance of the Cathedral in the light of a new consciousness within Irish Catholicism, both in Ireland and the Irish Catholic Diaspora.