Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga

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Diocese of Wagga Wagga

Dioecesis Corvopolitana
St Michael's Cathedral (Church Street view).jpg
St Michael's Cathedral, Wagga Wagga; consecrated in ca. 1859
Location
CountryAustralia
Territory Riverina regions of New South Wales
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sydney
Coordinates 35°06′26″S147°22′21″E / 35.10722°S 147.37250°E / -35.10722; 147.37250
Statistics
Area62,160 km2 (24,000 sq mi)
Population
  • Total
  • Catholics
  • (as of 1999)
  • Increase2.svg 206,000
  • Increase2.svg 62,000 (Steady2.svg 30.1%)
ParishesSteady2.svg 31
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established28 July 1917
CathedralSt Michael's, Wagga Wagga
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Mark Stuart Edwards
Metropolitan Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP
Bishops emeritus Gerard Joseph Hanna
Map
Bistum Wagga Wagga.svg
Website
Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga

The Diocese of Wagga Wagga is a Latin Church suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, established in 1917, covering the Riverina region of New South Wales in Australia.

Contents

St Michael's Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Wagga Wagga. On 12 September 2016, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Gerard Hanna due to health and age concerns and appointed Christopher Prowse to be the Apostolic Administrator. On 26 May 2020 Pope Francis announced that Bishop Mark Edwards OMI would be the sixth Bishop of Wagga Wagga, to be installed as Bishop on 22 July 2020 at St Michael's Cathedral. [1]

Bishops

Bishops of Wagga Wagga

The following individuals have been elected as Roman Catholic Bishop of Wagga Wagga: [2]

OrderNameDate enthronedReign endedTerm of officeReason for term end
1 Joseph Wilfrid Dwyer 14 March 191811 October 193921 years, 211 daysDied in office
2 Francis Augustin Henschke 16 November 193924 February 196828 years, 100 daysDied in office
3 Francis Patrick Carroll 24 February 196825 June 198315 years, 121 daysElevated to Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn
4 William John Brennan 16 Jan 19845 February 200218 years, 20 daysResigned and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Wagga Wagga
5 Gerard Joseph Hanna 5 February 200212 September 201614 years, 224 daysRetired due to reaching age 75 and due to ill health and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Wagga Wagga
6 Mark Edwards 22 July 2020present4 years, 292 days

Coadjutor bishop

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Cathedral

Located in Johnston Street, Wagga Wagga, St Michael's Cathedral is a large Gothic Revival styled sandstone cathedral built in two stages. The foundation stone of the first stage of the building comprising the nave and tower base, was laid on 26 April 1885. Completed between 1885 and 1887, the parish church was commissioned by Father Patrick Dunne and designed by architects Tappin, Gilbert & Dennehy, of Melbourne. The woodwork and carpentry was completed by Charles Hardy. In 1918, when the diocese was erected, St Michael’s became a cathedral. [3]

The second stage followed, that commenced in 1922 and completed in 1925. The architect was W. J. Monks, and the overall construction cost was £34,894. The imposing building was constructed from sandstone, of cruciform plan with clerestoried nave and lofty tower placed to the left of the main façade. In addition, the building consists of side aisles, porch, chancel, sacristy, chapel, and gallery. Roof framings are exposed timber internally and sheeted with slates externally. Walls are rock faced ashlar generally with dressed window and door surrounds and mullions. Internally the altars contain some finely crafted marble pieces and large stained glass windows in groups of three, giving a soft filtered light. A feature of the cathedral is the massive tower bell weighing 17 long hundredweight (1,900  lb ; 860  kg ) cast in the factory of Byrnes, of Dublin. The marble high altar was brought from Carrara, Italy and has subsequently been removed. [3]

Cathedral organ

George Fincham built a two-manual organ of 10 speaking stops for St Michael's Church in 1887. This was removed in 1892 and installed in the Chapel of St Peter at the Church of England Grammar School, Melbourne. The present organ, installed on the rear gallery in 1999 by Laurie Pipe Organs, was built by Samuel Lewis, an employee of George Fincham, who was his first apprentice as far back as 1864 and his first foreman, it is thought for the Dorcas Street Presbyterian Church in South Melbourne; it originally had two manuals and 17 speaking stops. It was installed at the Presbyterian Church, Denbigh Road, Armidale, in 1911 and in 1939 the mechanical action was converted to tubular-pneumatic by C.W. Andrewartha, who supplied a detached console. The casework with its carved transom rails, may also date from this time. The instrument was rebuilt in 1975 by Laurie Pipe Organs who converted the manual actions back to mechanical, electrified the pedal and stop actions, provided a new attached drawstop console, and supplied new Mixtures to the Great and Swell, a Trumpet 8 ft, and the pedal upper work. [4] In 2011 it was given a small overhaul by Darrell Pitchford. The front facade pipes were changed to silver and the stop mechanisms and pipes were cleaned and adjusted.

Parishes

^1. In 2009 Jerilderie became incorporated to the Darlington Point. Parish Administrator Rev Fr Anthony Dunne was appointed until the appointment of Rev Fr Blaise Kurek. Despite sharing a priest, Jerildierie is listed as a separate parish[ citation needed ]

Schools

The list below shows the schools in the diocese who are governed by Catholic Edution Diocese of Wagga Wagga (CEDWW) https://ww.catholic.edu.au/. Their attributed parish is also shown. The diocese is split into four areas and the schools are allocated based on proximity. [5]

Albury region

Secondary School

Primary Schools

Griffith region

Secondary Schools

Primary Schools

Wagga Wagga region

Secondary Schools

Primary Schools

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Catholic Australia". www.catholic.org.au. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "Diocese of Wagga Wagga". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
  3. 1 2 "Walking tour of Wagga Wagga's historic buildings". Wagga Wagga local history. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "St Michael's Catholic Cathedral, Wagga Wagga". Organ Historical Trust of Australia. 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Catholic Diocese of Wagga. Parishes - West Wagga Wagga. Retrieved 13 of March 2018.
  6. ↑ Our Lady of Fatima Parish, South Wagga. Retrieved 13 of March 2018.
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