Roman Catholic Diocese of Armidale

Last updated

Diocese of Armidale

Dioecesis Armidalensis
Cathedral Armidale.jpg
Cathedral of St Mary and St Joseph, Armidale; consecrated in 1912
Location
Country Australia
Territory New England and Barwon River regions of New South Wales
Ecclesiastical province Sydney
Coordinates 30°30′58″S151°39′50″E / 30.51611°S 151.66389°E / -30.51611; 151.66389
Statistics
Area91,500 km2 (35,300 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2006)
Decrease2.svg 146,769
Decrease2.svg 43,223 (Steady2.svg 29.4%)
ParishesSteady2.svg 25
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established28 November 1869
Cathedral Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop sede vacante
Metropolitan Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP
Website
armidale.catholic.org.au

The Diocese of Armidale is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in Australia. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Sydney. The Diocese of Armidale was established in 1869 and covers the New England and Barwon River regions of New South Wales.

Contents

Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral is the cathedra of the Bishop of Armidale, previously vacant after Michael Kennedy was appointed to the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. [1] [2] On February 27th 2025, news broke that Pope Francis had appointed Rev. Dr Peter Murphy the new Bishop of Armidale. [3]

Up until this point the Administrator was Monsignor Edward (Ted) Wilkes, and the administrator sat with the other Australian Bishops while attending the Parramatta funeral of former Bishop Kevin Manning in 2024.

History

Erected 28 November 1869. [4] Promptly following the philanthropic acquisition and dedication of land on the western side of central park Armidale, the foundation stone of the first of two brick cathedrals was laid and blessed on 8 December 1870, by the Administrator Monsignor John Thomas Lynch, an alumnus of St Patrick's Maynooth Ireland, on the same day that St Joseph was named as the patron of the Universal Church. [5] The first bishop, Most Reverend Timothy O'Mahony D.D, an alumnus of the Irish College in Rome and a director of the missionary movement of Propaganda Fide for Ireland, was forced to resign over politically motivated false allegations of alcoholism and fathering a child, although he was eventually cleared by a church investigation and subsequent events. [6] A sesquicentenary celebration of Bishop O'Mahony's installation at Armidale, by Archbishop Polding, an English Benedictine, was celebrated on 9.3.2021 and led by Archbishop Fisher and Bishop Kennedy. [7] A large white 2021 dated memorial stone has since been installed on the south side of the cathedral front doors-complementing that on the north side of the cathedral pyrmont sandstone front doors that commemorates another significant event being the blessing of the current cathedral by Cardinal Moran.

Bishops

Bishops of Armidale: [4] [8]

OrderNameTitleDate installedTerm endedTerm of officeReason for term end
1 Timothy O'Mahony Bishop of Armidale1869July 18777–8 yearsResigned from Rome
2 Elzear Torreggiani Bishop of ArmidaleNovember 1879January 190424–25 yearsDied in office
3 Patrick O'Connor Coadjutor Bishop of ArmidaleMay 1903January 19040–1 yearSucceeded as Bishop of Armidale
Bishop of ArmidaleJanuary 1904July 193227–28 yearsDied in office
4 John Coleman Coadjutor Bishop of ArmidaleSeptember 1929July 19322–3 yearsSucceeded as Bishop of Armidale
Bishop of ArmidaleJuly 1932December 194714–15 yearsDied in office
5 Edward Doody Bishop of Armidale25 April 19489 April 196819 years, 350 daysDied in office
6 James Darcy Freeman Bishop of ArmidaleDecember 196819712–3 yearsElevated as Archbishop of Sydney
7 Henry Kennedy Bishop of ArmidaleFebruary 197226 April 199118–19 yearsRetired
8 Kevin Manning Bishop of Armidale10 July 199110 July 19976 years, 0 daysElevated as Bishop of Parramatta
9 Luc Julian Matthys Bishop of ArmidaleMarch 1999December 201111–12 yearsRetired as Emeritus Bishop of Armidale
10 Michael Kennedy Bishop of ArmidaleFebruary 2012February 202310–11 yearsAppointed to Maitland–Newcastle.
11Peter MurphyBishop of ArmidaleYet to be installed.

James Darcy Freeman was elevated to Cardinal in 1973, concurrent with Archbishop of Sydney.

Coadjutors are included above.

Other priests of the diocese who became bishops

Cathedral

The diocesan cathedral is dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Joseph and is located in Dangar Street, Armidale, opposite Armidale Central Park and diagonally opposite the Anglican cathedral. It was built in 1911 of Pyrmont stone and Armidale polychrome brick. [9] It was solemnly dedicated on 12 December 1919.[ citation needed ]

Parishes

As of November 2014, there are currently 25 parishes located in Diocese of Armidale:

References

  1. ↑ "Diocese of Armidale". The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia. National Council of Priests of Australia. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "Bishop Kennedy appointed Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle". Australian Catholics Bishops Conference Media Blog. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  3. ↑ "Pope names new Bishop of Armidale". CathNews. 27 February 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Diocese of Armidale". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 19 February 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
  5. ↑ "Decree, St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church | EWTN".
  6. ↑ Farrell, J.J. (1993). "Archbishop Vaughan and the resignation of Bishop O'Mahony, first bishop of Armidale". Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society. 15: 7–23. Retrieved 14 December 2024.; C.J. Duffy, O'Mahony, Timothy (1825–1892), Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  7. ↑ "Bishop Timothy O'Mahony Sesquicentenary Bishop Timothy O'Mahony Sesquicentenary – Welcome | Catholic Diocese of Armidale".
  8. ↑ "The ten Catholic Bishops of Armidale". The Armidale Star. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "The Catholic Cathedral of St Mary and St Joseph, Armidale". Organ Historical Trust of Australia. 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
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