Diocese of Sandhurst
| Diocese of Sandhurst Dioecesis Sandhurstensis | |
|---|---|
| Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo
| |
| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| Ecclesiastical province | Melbourne |
| Coordinates | 36°45′17″S 144°17′07″E / 36.75472°S 144.28528°E |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 45,178 km2 (17,443 sq mi) |
| Population Total Catholics |
(as of 2004) 341,850 91,400 ( 26.7%) |
| Parishes | 41 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 30 March 1874 |
| Cathedral | Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Bishop | Rene Ramirez (bishop-elect) |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Peter Comensoli |
| Bishops emeritus | Les Tomlinson |
| Map | |
| Website | |
| sandhurst.catholic.org.au | |
The Diocese of Sandhurst 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 Melbourne. The Diocese of Sandhurst was erected in 1874 and covers the central and north-east regions of Victoria, including Bendigo.
Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bendigo is the seat of the Bishop of Sandhurst. On 3 February 2012, the Vatican announced the appointment of Les Tomlinson as the seventh Bishop of Sandhurst. He was installed in a liturgical ceremony on 1 March 2012.[1]
On 23 July 2019, Shane Mackinlay was announced as the next Bishop of Sandhurst.[2] Bishop Mackinlay was translated by papal bull of Pope Leo XIV and installed as the seventh Archbishop of Brisbane at the Cathedral of St Stephen, Brisbane, on 11 September 2025. The see of Sandhurst is currently vacant.
History
The Diocese of Sandhurst was established on 30 March 1874, from the Diocese of Melbourne. When the Diocese of Melbourne was made an archdiocese, the Diocese of Sandhurst became one of its suffragans. Both dioceses are within the Ecclesiastical Province of Melbourne.[3]
By 1911, the diocese had Augustinian Fathers, Marist Brothers, Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of St. Brigid, Sisters of St. Joseph, Presentation Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus and Good Shepherd Sisters.[4]
Construction of the Sacred Heart Cathedral began in 1885 under Bishop Crane. Its organ was installed in 1905, under Stephen Reville. The cathedral was completed in 1977 under Bernard Stewart. Sacred Heart Cathedral is one of the largest Neo-Gothic or Gothic Revival cathedrals in Australia and its construction was largely made possible by the estate of the Paderborn-born German pioneer priest Henry Backhaus, the first Roman Catholic priest on the goldfields of Bendigo.
Bishops
Bishops of Sandhurst:[5]
Following the death in office of Joseph Grech, Frank Marriott, the administrator of Sacred Heart Cathedral, was appointed to serve as administrator of the diocese. On 3 February 2012, Marriott announced that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Les Tomlinson as the next bishop. Tomlinson's installation took place on 1 March 2012.[1]
Coadjutor bishops
- Stephen Reville † (1885–1901)
- Bernard Denis Stewart † (1946–1950)
Priests of the diocese who became bishops
- Hugh Edward Ryan † - appointed Bishop of Townsville in 1938
- Thomas Vincent Cahill † - appointed Bishop of Cairns in 1948
- Francis Xavier Thomas † - appointed Bishop of Geraldton in 1962
- Francis Peter de Campo † - appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Port Pirie in 1979
Other information
The diocese comprises the area north of the Great Dividing Range, south of the Murray River and east of the Loddon River, an area of 45,178 km2 (17,450 sq mls). The diocese is divided into 41 parishes and has 74 priests, 109 religious sisters and 5 brothers. The diocese had a Catholic population of about 86,000 in 2006.
There are 50 Catholic schools in the diocese – 40 primary, nine secondary and one P–10 school – catering for 7,700 primary and 5,850 secondary students. Bendigo's oldest Catholic church is St Kilian's.[6]
Saint Augustine's Church, Myers Flat, is the oldest Roman Catholic church building in the Diocese of Sandhurst. The church was built by John O'Brien and consecrated by Dean Hayes in 1864.
See also
Canonical status and jurisdiction
Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[7]
External links
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Diocese of Sandhurst — (SANDHURSTENSIS).
Diocese in Victoria, Australia; suffragan of Melbourne. The cathedral city, officially known as Bendigo, is situated about one hundred miles directly north of Melbourne, in a shallow basin surrounded by an amphitheatre of gently-rising hills rich in gold, discovered in the district in 1852. This fact attracted to Bendigo immigrants from all parts of the world, among them many Irish and others professing the Catholic Faith. The first missionary was the Rev. Dr. Backhaus. On 21 Sept., 1874, Most Reverend Martin Crane, O.S.A., was consecrated first bishop of this diocese and arrived at the scene of his future labors early in 1875 accompanied by the Rev. M. Maher and the Rev. Stephen Reville, O.S.A. The latter was in 1885 appointed coadjutor bishop to Dr. Crane and succeeded him as bishop on 21 Oct., 1901. During the twenty five years of Dr. Crane's active administration, and since his demise, the interests of the Church have advanced rapidly both in a spiritual and material sense. When in 1875 Bishop Crane assumed charge of the diocese it contained but four parishes with one priest in each. There was no convent or Catholic school. At present the principal churches are situated at Wangaratta, Beechworth, Benalla, Chiltern, Shepparton, Echuca, and Rochester. The two last named parishes together with that of Kyabram are in charge of the Irish Augustinian Fathers who, at the invitation of Bishop Crane, came to the diocese towards the close of 1886. Besides the Augustinian Fathers, there are Marist Brothers, Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of St. Brigid, Sisters of St. Joseph, Presentation Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus, and Good Shepherd Sisters. In many outlying districts, unable to maintain a community of nuns, there are flourishing primary schools in charge of lay teachers. In the immediate vicinity of Bendigo, there is now in course of construction an orphanage and Magdalen Asylum, which up to date has cost £45,000, the funds for which are derived from the estate of Dr. Backhaus.
The statistics for 1911 are: districts, 22; churches 105; secular priests, 36, regular, 6; religious brothers 7; nuns, 200; college, 1; boarding-schools (girls), 6; primary schools, 31; superior day-schools, 13; children in Catholic schools, over 4000; total Catholic population (1901), 45,368.
Australasian Cath. Directory (1911); Annuaire Pontif. Cath (1911); MORAN, Hist. of the Catholic Church in Australasia; HOGAN, The Irish in Australia (1888); THERRY, New South Wales and Victoria (1863).
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 "New Bishop of Sandhurst" (Press release). Diocese of Sandhurst. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- Back to citation "Priest, professor Fr Shane Mackinlay named Bishop of Sandhurst". Catholic Church in Australia. Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- Back to citation C.S. Geoghegan, From mass tent to cathedral: Catholicism in the social and cultural landscape, Sandhurst 1852–1901, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 27 (2006), 41–48.
- Back to citation Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Sandhurst". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Back to citation "Diocese of Sandhurst". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 19 February 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
- Back to citation "Vatican offer to Anglicans". The Age. Australia. 28 November 2009.
- Back to citation Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst, official website
Further reading
- Ebsworth, Walter (1973). Pioneer Catholic Victoria. Polding Press. ISBN 0-85884-096-0.
- O'Farrell, Patrick (1977). The Catholic Church and Community in Australia. West Melbourne: Thomas Nelson.
- The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia 2005/2006. Maryborough, Victoria: published with the authority of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, by the National Council of Priests of Australia. 1977. ISSN 1321-4764.
- Arneil, Stan (1992). Out Where the Dead Men Lie (The Augustinians in Australia 1838-1992). Brookvale, Sydney: Augustinian Press. ISBN 0-949826-03-0.