Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba is a Latin Rite suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, established in 1929, covering the Darling Downs and south west regions of Queensland, Australia.

Diocese of Toowoomba

Dioecesis Tuumbanus
St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba, 2014
Location
CountryAustralia
TerritoryDarling Downs and
South West regions of Queensland
Ecclesiastical provinceProvince of Brisbane
MetropolitanBrisbane
Coordinates27°33′41″S 151°57′53″E
Statistics
Area487,456 km2 (188,208 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2004)
232,900
65,912 ( 28.3%%)
Parishes 35
Information
DenominationRoman Catholic
RiteLatin Rite
Established28 May 1929
CathedralSt Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba
Patron saintMary of the Southern Cross, Blessed Virgin Mary
Secular priests50
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopRobert McGuckin
Bishops emeritusWilliam Morris
Website
Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba

St Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba. The diocese covers an area of 487,000 km2. with 48 priests and 57 members of religious orders. There are 77,400 Catholics among the 276,700 total population within the diocese's borders.

History

In 1929, the Diocese of Toowoomba was excised from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.[1]

Recent history
Main article: Bill Morris (bishop)

Bishop Bill Morris was appointed in 1992 to head the Toowoomba diocese. In 2006 he released a pastoral letter[2] calling for discussion of the ordination of married men and the ordination of women to compensate for the lack of priests in his large diocese.[3]

An apostolic visitation of the diocese was conducted by Charles J. Chaput OFM Cap., then Archbishop of Denver,[4] during April 2007. Discussions continued between Morris and the Vatican for several years.

On 1 May 2011, Bishop Morris announced his early retirement at age 67, stressing the fact that he had not resigned. On 2 May 2011, the Holy See removed Morris from pastoral care of the diocese, attracting international press coverage. The Holy See appointed Brian Vincent Finnigan, Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, to serve as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese.[5]

On 14 May 2012, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI had named the Reverend Monsignor Robert McGuckin as bishop-elect of the Toowoomba diocese. He was installed on 11 July.

Bishops

Ordinaries

The following have served as Bishops of Toowoomba:[6]

Order Name Date enthroned Reign ended Term of office Reason for term end
1James Byrne28 May 192911 February 19388 years, 259 daysDied in office
2Joseph Basil Roper13 July 193814 October 195214 years, 93 daysResigned and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Toowoomba
3William Joseph Brennan7 August 195311 September 197522 years, 35 daysDied in office
4Edward Francis Kelly, MSC19 December 197520 November 199216 years, 337 daysRetired and appointed Bishop Emeritus
5William Morris20 November 19922 May 201118 years, 163 daysRetired[3][7][8] and appointed Bishop Emeritus
6Robert McGuckin11 July 2012present7 years, 348 days

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop
  • John Alexius Bathersby, appointed Bishop of Cairns in 1986

Parishes

There are currently 35 parishes in the diocese and 42 diocesan priests.

Schools

The diocese has the following schools:

Heritage listings

The diocese has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Sexual abuse

In February 2014 the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, a royal commission of inquiry initiated in 2013 by the Australian Government and supported by all of its state governments,[11] began an investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse and the response by the Diocesan Catholic Education Office.[12] The former Bishop of Toowoomba, Bill Morris, admitted that "there had been a number of significant systemic failings which led to the failure to properly deal with" the abuse of thirteen young girls at a Toowoomba Catholic primary School in 2007-08.[13]

See also
  • Roman Catholicism in Australia

References
  1. "Our Story". Archdiocesan Profile. Archdiocese of Brisbane. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  2. Morris, William Martin (17 November 2006). "Advent Pastoral letter" (PDF). Diocese of Toowoomba. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  3. Livingstone, Tess; Gearing, Amanda (2 May 2011). "Bishop of Toowoomba, William Morris, claims unfair dismissal by Pope". The Australian. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  4. "Call to ordain women". The Courier-Mail. Australia. 4 January 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  5. "Diocese of Toowoomba" (PDF). Apostolic Nunciature to Australia (Press release). Canberra, Australia. 2 May 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  6. "Diocese of Toowoomba". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  7. "New document reveals years of Vatican efforts before ousting Toowoomba bishop". Catholic News Agency. United States. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  8. "Backing bishop's sacking, Australian bishops cite doctrine and discipline issues". Catholic News Agency. United States. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  9. "St Patricks Cathedral (entry 600844)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  10. "Bishop's House (entry 600845)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  11. "Letters Patent". Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  12. "Case Study 6, February 2014, Brisbane". Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  13. http://www.cam.org.au/News-and-Events/News-and-Events/News/Article/16290/Royal-Commission-Toowoomba-Hearing-concludes#.Uwz42Jg6jVt

Further reading
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