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 by 1862[1] and covers the New England and Barwon River regions of New South Wales.
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.[2][3] On February 27th 2025, news broke that Pope Francis had appointed Rev. Dr Peter Murphy the new Bishop of Armidale.[4]
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.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher was principal consecrator of Bishop Peter Mel Murphy. The catholic weekly published the homily.[5] The occasion was published on youtube.[6]
History
Erected 28 November 1862. (See footnote also for succinct list of past and present appointments.)[7] 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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] 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 February 5 1911 blessing and laying of the foundation stone of the current cathedral by Cardinal Moran. Archbishop Mannix, an alumnus of Maynooth College Ireland, preached at the consecration on December 11, 1919.[11]
Bishops
| Order | Name | Title | Date installed | Term ended | Term of office | Reason for term end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timothy O'Mahony | Bishop of Armidale | 1869 | July 1877 | 7–8 years | Resigned from Rome |
| 2 | Elzear Torreggiani | Bishop of Armidale | November 1879 | January 1904 | 24–25 years | Died in office |
| 3 | Patrick O'Connor | Coadjutor Bishop of Armidale | May 1903 | January 1904 | 0–1 year | Succeeded as Bishop of Armidale |
| Bishop of Armidale | January 1904 | July 1932 | 27–28 years | Died in office | ||
| 4 | John Coleman | Coadjutor Bishop of Armidale | September 1929 | July 1932 | 2–3 years | Succeeded as Bishop of Armidale |
| Bishop of Armidale | July 1932 | December 1947 | 14–15 years | Died in office | ||
| 5 | Edward Doody | Bishop of Armidale | 25 April 1948 (1948-04-25) | 9 April 1968 (1968-04-09) | 19 years, 350 days | Died in office |
| 6 | James Darcy Freeman | Bishop of Armidale | December 1968 | 1971 | 2–3 years | Elevated as Archbishop of Sydney |
| 7 | Henry Kennedy | Bishop of Armidale | February 1972 | 26 April 1991 (1991-04-26) | 18–19 years | Retired |
| 8 | Kevin Manning | Bishop of Armidale | 10 July 1991 (1991-07-10) | 10 July 1997 (1997-07-10) | 6 years, 0 days | Elevated as Bishop of Parramatta |
| 9 | Luc Julian Matthys | Bishop of Armidale | March 1999 | December 2011 | 11–12 years | Retired as Emeritus Bishop of Armidale |
| 10 | Michael Kennedy | Bishop of Armidale | February 2012 | February 2023 | 10–11 years | Appointed to Maitland–Newcastle. |
| 11 | Peter Murphy | Bishop of Armidale | 8 May 2025 |
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
- Jeremiah Joseph Doyle, appointed Bishop of Grafton in 1887
- John Steven Satterthwaite, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Lismore in 1969
- Gerard Joseph Hanna, appointed Bishop of Wagga Wagga in 2002
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.[13] It was solemnly dedicated on 12 December 1919.
Parishes
As of November 2014, there are currently 25 parishes located in Diocese of Armidale:
- Armidale Cathedral
- Barraba
- Bingara, administered by Barraba
- Boggabri, administered by Narrabri
- Bundarra, administered by Uralla
- Dungowan
- Glen Innes
- Gunnedah
- Guyra
- Sacred Heart, Inverell
- Manilla
- Moree
- Mungindi, administered by Moree
- St Xavier, Narrabri
- St Brigid, Quirindi
- St Nicholas, East Tamworth
- St Edward, South Tamworth
- St Patrick, West Tamworth
- St Mary, Tenterfield
- Uralla
- Walcha
- Walgett
- Warialda
- St Andrew, Wee Waa
- Werris Creek
References
- 1."Oration on the 150th anniversary of the Installation of the first Bishop of Armidale". 8 March 2021.
- 2."Diocese of Armidale". The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia. National Council of Priests of Australia. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- 3."Bishop Kennedy appointed Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle". Australian Catholics Bishops Conference Media Blog. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- 4."Pope names new Bishop of Armidale". CathNews. 27 February 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- 5."New farmer of souls, Bishop Peter Murphy". 14 May 2025.
- 6."LIVE STREAM - Episcopal Ordination and Solemn Installation of Most Reverend Peter Mel Murphy". YouTube. 8 May 2025.
- 7.[7.2]"Diocese of Armidale". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 19 February 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
- 8."Decree, St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church | EWTN".
- 9.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.
- 10."Bishop Timothy O'Mahony Sesquicentenary Bishop Timothy O'Mahony Sesquicentenary – Welcome | Catholic Diocese of Armidale".
- 11.See 1977 publication at page 444 of official biography of Archbishop Mannix by Rev Walter A Ebsworth, commissioned by Cardinal Knox. ISBN 0 9596365 0 1
- 12."The ten Catholic Bishops of Armidale". The Armidale Star. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- 13."The Catholic Cathedral of St Mary and St Joseph, Armidale". Organ Historical Trust of Australia. 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2011.