Archdiocese of Melbourne

Archdiocese of Melbourne Archidioecesis Melburnensis
St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
Location
Country	Australia
Territory	Melbourne
Ecclesiastical province	Melbourne
Coordinates	37°48′32″S 144°58′46″E / 37.80889°S 144.97944°E
Statistics
Area	27,194 km2 (10,500 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2020) 4,810,000 1,264,150 ( 26.3%)
Parishes	216
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	31 March 1874
Cathedral	St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
Patron saint	Saint Patrick
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Archbishop	Peter Comensoli
Auxiliary Bishops	Martin Ashe Thinh Xuan Nguyen Rene Ramirez
Bishops emeritus	Denis Hart Terence Curtin
Map
Website
www.melbournecatholic.org

Archdiocese of Melbourne — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is a Latin Rite metropolitan archdiocese in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Erected initially in 1847 as the Diocese of Melbourne, a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, the diocese was elevated in 1874 as an archdiocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Melbourne and is the metropolitan see for the suffragan dioceses of Sale, Sandhurst and Ballarat and also the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Ss Peter and Paul. The Archdiocese of Hobart is attached to the archdiocese for administrative purposes. St Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne, currently Peter Comensoli, who succeeded Denis Hart on 1 August 2018.

According to the 2006 Commonwealth Census figures, there were 4,932,423 people within the province. Of these, 1,349,828 were Catholic, about 28% of the population.

History

When Melbourne, then called the Port Philip Settlement, and the surrounding area was being settled by European settlers in the 1830s, the area was a part of the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Sydney in the Archdiocese of Sydney. In 1839, John Polding, the Archbishop of Sydney, placed Patrick Bonaventure Geoghegan in charge of the Port Philip Settlement and the first Mass was celebrated in Melbourne on Pentecost Sunday, 15 May 1839. The entire population of Port Philip in 1841 was 11,738 and the Catholics numbered 2,411.

The oldest surviving Catholic church in Victoria, St Francis Catholic Church, was built in 1841.

The Diocese of Melbourne was created in 1848 out of territory of the then Sydney archdiocese, with James Alipius Goold as its first bishop. The Catholic population of the colony was 18,000 in 1851 and had grown to 88,000 by 1857 as a result of the gold rush. James Goold was also instrumental in setting up many Catholic schools in the diocese and in introducing several religious orders devoted to education and works of charity, including the Society of Jesus, the Christian Brothers, the Sisters of Mercy, the Good Shepherd Nuns, the Presentation Sisters, the Faithful Companions of Jesus and the Little Sisters of the Poor.

When Goold was appointed Bishop of Melbourne in 1848, St Francis' Church became the cathedral church of the new diocese. Construction of a new church on Eastern Hill in East Melbourne commenced in 1858, to be called St Patrick's Cathedral. Construction of the cathedral was not completed until 1939.

On 30 March 1874, the dioceses of Sandhurst (comprising four parishes) and Ballarat were formed out of territory of the Diocese of Melbourne, with it becoming a metropolitan archdiocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Melbourne and responsible for Sandhurst and Ballarat dioceses as suffragan dioceses. The suffragan Diocese of Sale was similarly formed on 26 April 1887 out of the archdiocese.

Under Goold's successor, Thomas Joseph Carr, additional teaching orders were introduced to the archdiocese, including the Marist Brothers, the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the Sisters of Loreto, the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. In 1887, 11,661 pupils attended Catholic schools of the archdiocese and that number had grown to 25,369 by 1908. The Catholic population of the archdiocese according to government census returns of 1901 was 145,333.

Until the mid-20th century, the Catholics of the archdiocese were almost all Irish or of Irish origin, when expansion of the migration programs saw the arrival of non-Irish Catholics from continental Europe. The priesthood was exclusively Irish until the early part of the 20th century, when training of native born priests began.

Ordinaries

The following individuals were Archbishops of Melbourne, with one being a cardinal while in office as archbishop, as well as having civilian honours. Their highest title is shown here:

Auxiliary bishops

Current auxiliary bishops

The archbishop of the archdiocese, Peter Comensoli, is assisted by several auxiliary bishops:

• Martin Ashe (2021–present)
• Rene A. Ramirez, RCJ (2024–present)
• Thinh Xuan Nguyen (2024–present)

Monsignor Greg Bennet was appointed vicar general and moderator of the curia of the archdiocese in February 2012.

Former auxiliary bishops

• Arthur Francis Fox † (1956–1967), appointed Bishop of Sale
• Lawrence Patrick Moran † (1964–1970)
• John Neil Cullinane † (1967–1974)
• Thomas Francis Little † (1972–1974), appointed Archbishop here
• John Anthony Kelly † (1972–1986)
• Eric Gerard Perkins † (1972–1991)
• Joseph Peter O'Connell † (1976–2006)
• George Pell (1987–1996) †, appointed Archbishop here; future Cardinal
• Peter Joseph Connors (1987–1997), appointed Bishop of Ballarat
• Hilton Forrest Deakin (1992–2007)
• Denis James Hart (1997–2001), appointed Archbishop here
• Joseph Angelo Grech † (1998–2001), appointed Bishop of Sandhurst
• Mark Benedict Coleridge (2002–2006), appointed Archbishop of Canberra–Goulburn
• Christopher Charles Prowse (2003–2009), appointed Bishop of Sale
• Peter John Elliott † (2007-2018)
• Terence Curtin (2014-2025)
• Mark Stuart Edwards OMI (2014–2020), appointed Bishop of Wagga Wagga
• Anthony Ireland (2021-2025), appointed Archbishop of Hobart

Bishop Tim Costelloe SDB was appointed as an auxiliary bishop on 30 April 2007 with responsibility for the northern region of the archdiocese. On 20 February 2012, Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to Archbishop of Perth, Western Australia.

Bishop Les Tomlinson was the auxiliary bishop for the Eastern Region. He was appointed auxiliary bishop on 5 May 2009 and continued until he was installed as Bishop of Sandhurst in March 2012.

Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv was the auxiliary bishop for the western region and former assistant superior general for the Conventual Franciscans for Asia and Oceania. He was appointed auxiliary bishop on 20 May 2011 and continued until he was appointed Bishop of Parramatta on 5 May 2016 and installed on 16 June 2016.

Bishop Mark Stuart Edwards OMI was the auxiliary bishop for the Western Region, having been appointed bishop on 7 Nov 2014. He was appointed Bishop of Wagga Wagga on 26 May 2020.

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

• James Moore †, appointed Bishop of Ballarat in 1884
• James Francis Corbett †, appointed Bishop of Sale in 1887
• Joseph Shiel †, appointed Bishop of Rockhampton in 1912
• Patrick Phelan †, appointed Bishop of Sale in 1912
• John Barry †, appointed Bishop of Goulburn in 1924
• James Patrick O'Collins †, appointed Bishop of Geraldton in 1930
• Romuald Denis Hayes, S.S.C. †, appointed Bishop of Rockhampton in 1932
• John Joseph Lonergan † appointed Bishop of Port Augusta in 1938 (did not take effect, apparently because of his death)
• Matthew Beovich †, appointed Archbishop of Adelaide in 1939
• Patrick Francis Lyons †, appointed Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand in 1944
• Bernard Denis Stewart †, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sandhurst in 1946
• Ronald Austin Mulkearns †, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Ballarat in 1968
• John Aloysius Morgan †, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Canberra (and Goulburn) in 1969
• Leo Morris Clarke †, appointed Bishop of Maitland in 1976
• Joseph Eric D'Arcy †, appointed Bishop of Sale in 1981
• Luc Julian Matthys, appointed Bishop of Armidale in 1999
• Gregory Charles Bennet, appointed Bishop of Sale in 2020

Other information

There are 232 parishes in the archdiocese and 369 diocesan priests and 16 permanent deacons. The archdiocese has a total of 294 priests and one permanent deacon in religious orders, 199 religious brothers and 1,323 religious sisters.

There is one seminary for diocesan clergy, Corpus Christi College, and three seminaries for religious clergy.

There are 331 Catholic schools in the archdiocese - 256 primary, 69 secondary and six special schools. According to the 1998 census, there were 136,387 students enrolled in Catholic schools in the archdiocese - 77,636 in primary schools and 58,751 in secondary schools.

Within the archdiocese, there are 10 Catholic hospitals, 18 homes for children, 27 for the elderly and 10 for other purposes.

Sexual abuse cases

Cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have come to light in recent years involving the Archdiocese of Melbourne as well as many regional Catholic jurisdictions, both in Australia and around the world. Archbishop Denis Hart was cross-examined for three hours at the Parliamentary Inquiry over documents sent to the inquiry by victims and whistleblowers within the archdiocese.

Hart regretted the "slow start" made in the process of resolving complaints and investigating instances of abuse but "st[ood] by what [they] did since 1996 nevertheless".

The inquiry's report was due to be delivered to the Victorian parliament in September 2013.

In May 2020, newly disclosed portions of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse report, which was originally published in redacted form in December 2017, revealed that priests and clergy staff accused of abusing children within the Archdiocese of Melbourne were sometimes "dealt with" by being transferred to other parishes.

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Australia

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church.

• Part of: Ecclesiastical Province of Melbourne

External links

• Official website

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Archdiocese of Melbourne (Melburnen)

Located in the state of Victoria, Southeastern Australia. Its history is closely interwoven with the rise and progress of the state of Victoria. When the first Catholic Bishop of Melbourne was consecrated in 1848, the present metropolis, from which the see takes its name, was known as the Port Philip Settlement, and was part of the ecclesiastical province of Sydney. Dr. Polding, the newly consecrated bishop of that see, placed the Rev. Patrick Bonaventure Geoghegan in charge of Port Philip in 1839; and the first Mass was celebrated in Melbourne on Pentecost Sunday, 15 May, of that year. The entire population of Port Philip in 1841 was 11,738, and the Catholics numbered 2411.

(1) Most Rev. James Alypius Goold, the first bishop, an Irishman, journeyed overland from Sydney after his consecration, arriving in Melbourne 4 October, 1848. In April, 1850, he laid the foundation of St. Patrick's cathedral, and this event was followed in a few months by a declaration by the imperial authorities which changed the Settlement of Port Philip into the independent colony of Victoria. The discovery of goldfields at Ballarat, Bendigo, and Castlemaine at this period was responsible for a large increase in the population. Ireland found in Victoria a refuge and a home for many of her exiled children. The Catholic population, in 1851 only 18,000, had by 1857 grown to 88,000.

During the next decade and a half large centres of population had sprung up in places so remote from Melbourne that it was utterly impossible for Bishop Goold to attend to the wants of his widely scattered flock. When at Rome in 1874 he placed his difficulties before the Holy See, and had the northern and western portions of Victoria cut off from Melbourne and formed into the dioceses of Sandhurst and Ballarat, and received the pallium as first archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of Victoria. The strain of getting through ecclesiastical work in the pioneering days of Australia demanded a strength and a mental firmness of no ordinary capacity. The work accomplished by Archbishop Goold from 1848 to 1886 proves him a man of wonderful endurance and great organizing ability. He made five voyages to Rome, and introduced several religious orders devoted to education and works of charity, the Jesuit fathers, the Christian Brothers, Sisters of Mercy, Good Shepherd Nuns, Presentation Order, Faithful Companions of Jesus, and Little Sisters of the Poor. The most important action of Dr. Goold and most far-reaching in its consequences was the determined and consistent fight he made against the state system of purely secular education. The zeal he displayed in the erection of Catholic schools, and the sacrifice he demanded of his people in maintaining them, show how fully convinced he was that religious instruction can never be separated from education. When the denominational system in 1872 gave way to a system from which the name of God was banished, the bishop proclaimed that no matter what the cost, or what the sacrifice involved, the Catholic children of Victoria should be provided with a Catholic education. When Archbishop Goold died, 11 June, 1886, there were 11,661 children receiving Catholic education without costing a penny to the state, while their parents were contributing their share as taxpayers to the state system.

(2) Most Rev. Thomas Joseph Carr, on the solid foundation laid by his predecessor, the first Bishop of Melbourne, has raised a stately and imposing edifice. The present Archbishop was transferred from the ancient see of Galway, and arrived in Melbourne on the first anniversary of Dr. Goold's death, 11 June, 1887. The years after his arrival he undertook the great task of completing St. Patrick's cathedral. For over forty years the building of this magnificent temple absorbed every thought of the first Vicar-General, the Right Rev. John Fitzpatrick, D. D. Yet a sum of one hundred thousand pounds was requested to carry out the original design, exclusive of the towers which are still unfinished. On the death of Dr. Fitzpatrick in 1889 the archbishop enlisted the practical sympathy and hearty co-operation of the clergy and laity of the archdiocese in this large undertaking. On 31 October, 1897, the cathedral was consecrated, entirely free from debt. The total cost from the day the foundation stone was laid in April, 1850, to the day of dedication was two hundred thirty thousand pounds. No modern cathedral in Ireland approaches the Melbourne fane, and even the two ancient cathedrals, Christ's church and St. Patrick's, Dublin, fall far short in seating accommodation and massive beauty. The episcopal silver jubilee of the archbishop was celebrated 26 August, 1907, with unbounded enthusiasm, while 10,000 found standing or sitting room with the walls of the cathedral. The clergy and laity took occasion of this celebration to mark their appreciation of Archbishop Carr's great services to the Church in Australia during the twenty years of his rule. Because of his deeply rooted objection to a personal testimonial, a debt of eight thousand pounds was cleared off the cathedral hall and a thousand pounds over-subscribed handed him for educational purposes. In connection with that event, a review was made, and official statistics compiled, of the growth and progress of the Church in that period. The number of clergy had increased from 66 to 142, 30 new churches had been built, old churches had been replaced by substantial and stately edifices, and the existing ones improved in ornamentation and equipment, and the number of parishes had risen from 26 to 56. The total cost of the erection of the churches, schools, presbyteries, halls, educational and charitable institutions amounted to the enormous sum (considering the population) of £1,272,874.

The development of Catholic education and the increase in the number of schools not only kept pace with the general growth, but led the van of progress. The archbishop adhered religiously to the principles of his predecessor in his endeavour to provide, as far as possible, Catholic education for every Catholic child. To make effective and permanent provision in the department of education, new teaching orders were introduced. In addition to those already fighting the educational battle, the archbishop, within a few years, had the Marist Brothers, the Sisters of Charity, the Sacred Heart Sisters, the Sisters of Loretto, the Sisters of St. Joseph, and the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. £500,679 was expended during these twenty years on school buildings and residence for religious engaged in Catholic education. In 1887 the number of pupils attending the Catholic schools of the archdiocese was 11,661, as compared with 25,369 at the close of 1908. The building and maintaining of a separate school system means a double tax on the Catholic community; as rate payers they contribute their share of State education, and as Catholics they pay for their own; and count the cost as nothing compared with the eternal interests at stake. When the purely secular system of education was introduced into Victoria in 1872, some anti-Catholics leagued together, and declared that the new system would "rend the Catholic church asunder". The opposite had been the result. The very sufferings and disabilities associated with the maintenance of their own schools have united solidly the Catholic body; while the absence of religion from the state schools has "rent asunder" Protestantism in producing a generation of non-believers. No review of the Archdiocese of Melbourne would be complete without reference to the growth of Catholic literature, particularly in recent years. To stem the tide of irreligious reading, splendid efforts have been made in Melbourne to provide Catholic homes with Catholic literature. When the Archbishop came to Melbourne (1887), there was only one Catholic paper, "The Advocate", in Victoria. Since then a monthly magazine, the "Austral Light", under his direction (1892), and the Australian Catholic Truth Society (1904), have come into existence and are doing great apostolic work in diffusing Catholic truth. The Catholics of the archdiocese are almost all Irish or of Irish origin. The priesthood was exclusively Irish till recent years, when vocations among the native born are rapidly on the increase. The religious, teaching in the school or conducting the charitable institutions, were in the early days Irish, but are now largely Australian.

Summary of the Archdiocese of Melbourne

Districts, 57; Churches, 168; Secular Clergy, 113; Regular Clergy, 38; Religious Brothers, 54; Nuns, 851; Superior Schools, for Boys, 8; for Girls, 28; number of pupils, 3443; Parochial Primary Schools, 107; number of pupils, 21,926; Total number of pupils in Parochial and High Schools, 25,369; Orphanages, 4; Industrial Schools for Boys, 1; for Girls, 1; Reformatory School for Girls, 1; Magdalene Asylums for Penitent Women, 2; Home for Neglected Children, 1; Home for the Poor, 1; Home for Women and Girls Out of Employment, 1; Foundling Hospital, 1; Receiving Home in Connection with Foundling Hospital, 1; Catholic population of the archdiocese according to Government census returns of 1901, 145,333.

External links

• Official website
• Archidioecesis Melburnensis Catholic-Hierarchy.org
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Melbourne". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.