The Diocese of Port Pirie 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 Adelaide, erected in 1887 covering the Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas, Flinders Ranges, Nullarbor Plain, and Mid and Far North regions of South Australia, Australia.
History
The Diocese of Port Augusta was canonically erected by Pope Leo XIII on 10 May 1887, the same day the pope elevated the See of Adelaide to a metropolitan archdiocese and placed the new diocese in its province. On 5 August 1951 the seat of the diocese was moved from Port Augusta to Port Pirie, with the name of the diocese being also changed.[1]
Boundaries
Bishops
The following men have been Bishops of Port Pirie or any of its precursor titles:[2]
| Order | Name | Title | Date enthroned | Reign ended | Term of office | Reason for term end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John O'Reily † | Bishop of Port Augusta | 13 May 1887 | 5 January 1895 | 7 years, 237 days | Elevated as Archbishop of Adelaide |
| 2 | James Maher † | Bishop of Port Augusta | 10 January 1896 | 20 December 1905 | 9 years, 344 days | Died in office |
| 3 | John Henry Norton † | Bishop of Port Augusta | 18 August 1906 | 22 March 1923 | 16 years, 216 days | Died in office |
| 4 | Andrew Killian † | Bishop of Port Augusta | 26 February 1924 | 11 July 1933 | 9 years, 135 days | Elevated as Coadjutor Archbishop of Adelaide |
| 5 | Norman Thomas Gilroy † | Bishop of Port Augusta | 10 December 1934 | 1 July 1937 | 2 years, 203 days | Elevated as Coadjutor Archbishop of Sydney |
| 6 | John Joseph Lonergan † | Bishop-Elect of Port Augusta | 8 January 1938 | 14 July 1938 | 187 days | Died prior to being ordained as Bishop |
| 7 | Thomas Absolem McCabe † | Bishop of Port Augusta | 13 December 1938 | 15 November 1951 | 12 years, 337 days | Appointed as Bishop of Wollongong |
| 8 | Bryan Gallagher † | Bishop of Port Pirie | 13 March 1952 | 11 August 1980 | 28 years, 151 days | Resigned and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Port Pirie |
| 9 | Francis Peter de Campo † | Bishop of Port Pirie | 11 August 1980 | 23 April 1998 | 17 years, 255 days | Died in office |
| 10 | Daniel Eugene Hurley | Bishop of Port Pirie | 27 November 1998 | 3 July 2007 | 8 years, 218 days | Appointed as Bishop of Darwin |
| 11 | Gregory O'Kelly SJ | Bishop of Port Pirie | 15 April 2009 | 1 August 2020 | 17 years, 144 days | Retired |
| 12 | Karol Kulczycki SDS | Bishop of Port Pirie |
Coadjutor bishop
- Francis Peter de Campo † (1979–1980)
Other priest of this diocese who became bishop
- Francis Augustin Henschke †, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Adelaide in 1937
Sexual abuse cases
The Royal Commission into Institutionalised Responses to Child Sexual Abuse revealed that Port Pirie was the third-worst diocese in the country, with 14.1% of its priests accused of abuse.[3]
In 2007, Father Charles Barnett was arrested in Jakarta, Indonesia where he had fled in 1995, and extradited to Australia.[4] Barnett pled guilty in 2009 to three child sex charges for events between 1977 and 1985 at Crystal Brook and Port Pirie.[5] He was sentenced for a fourth crime occurring in 1994 and was rearrested in for other crimes after his release.[6]
References
- 1."The Diocese of Port Augusta". The Southern Cross. Adelaide. 10 August 1951. p. 12. Retrieved 14 October 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- 2."Diocese of Port Pirie". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 20 February 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
- 3."Port Pirie diocese on Catholic priest abuse shame list". Adelaide Now. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- 4.Thompson, Geoff (27 February 2008). "Priest arrested in Jakarta over child sex charges". ABC News. Archived from the original on 10 April 2025. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- 5."Extradited ex-priest admits child sex". ABC News. Australia. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- 6.Opie, Rebecca (20 February 2018). "Former Catholic priest Charles Alfred Barnett apologises to sexual abuse victims in court". ABC News. Archived from the original on 1 October 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2025.