At the same time, the growing Italian community was becoming increasingly self-aware and desirous of greater social and cultural expression.

The community enthusiastically agreed to raise the money and build the church themselves despite the impoverished times of the Depression years.

The designs were drawn up to these specifications by the architect, G. W. A. Welsh, and signed by Antonio Ceccato, Father Bongiorno and Pompeo Vardanega.

The Italian Consul-General Sr. Mammalella, attended the opening celebrations which took the whole day and included mass, formal speeches, confirmation and baptism ceremonies.

In the 1950s the statue of the Madonna was added to the front, post the church's construction, replacing a circular rose window.

Both the design and construction reflect these Italian origins and are strikingly different to traditional Australian Catholic church architecture.

The church played a seminal role in the development of self-esteem by this community at a difficult period in inter-ethnic relations during the late 1930s, and represents the establishment and growing cultural expression of the Italian community in Australia during this period, which contributed to the development of a multi-cultural Australia.

[1] Our Lady of Pompeii Roman Catholic Church was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 15 December 2006 having satisfied the following criteria.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

Both the design and construction reflect these Italian origins and are strikingly different from traditional Australian church architecture.

The church is significant through its ongoing association with the Griffith Italian community who value it not only for spiritual reasons, but as a social gathering point for a dispersed population.

[1] The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

[1] The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Our Lady of Pompeii Roman Catholic Church, entry number 01746 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.