| Diocese of Wagga Wagga Dioecesis Corvopolitanus |
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St Michael's Cathedral, Wagga Wagga; consecrated in ca. 1859 |
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| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| Territory | Riverina regions of New South Wales |
| Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Sydney |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 24,000 km2 (9,300 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 1999) 206,000 62,000 ( 30.1%) |
| Parishes | 31 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Latin Rite |
| Established | 28 July 1917 |
| Cathedral | St Michael's, Wagga Wagga |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Benedict XVI |
| Bishop | Gerard Joseph Hanna |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | George Cardinal Pell |
| Website | |
| Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga is a Latin rite suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, erested in 1917, covering the Riverina region of New South Wales in Australia.
St Michael's Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Wagga Wagga, currently Gerard Hanna.
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The following individuals have been eleected as Roman Catholic Bishop of Wagga Wagga:[1]
| Order | Name | Date enthroned | Reign ended | Term of office | Reason for term end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Wilfrid Dwyer | 14 March 1918 | 11 October 1939 | 8 years, 235 days | Died in office |
| 2 | Francis Augustin Henschke | 16 November 1939 | 24 February 1968 | 28 years, 100 days | Died in office |
| 3 | Francis Patrick Carroll | 24 February 1968 | 25 June 1983 | 15 years, 121 days | Elevated to Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn |
| 4 | William John Brennan | 16 Jan 1984 | 5 February 2002 | 18 years, 20 days | Resigned and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Wagga Wagga |
| 5 | Gerard Joseph Hanna | 5 February 2002 | present | 10 years, 24 days |
Located in Johnston Street, Wagga Wagga, St Michael's Cathedral is a large Gothic Revival styled sandstone cathedral built in two stages. The foundation stone of the first stage of the building comprising the nave and tower base, was laid on 26 April 1885. Completed between 1885 and 1887, the parish church was commissioned by Father Patrick Dunne and designed by architects Tappin, Gilbert & Dennehy, of Melbourne. The woodwork and carpentry was completed by Charles Hardy. In 1918, when the diocese was erected, St Michael’s became a cathedral.[2]
The second stage followed, that commenced in 1922 and completed in 1925. The architect was W. J. Monks, and the overall construction cost was £34,894. The imposing building was constructed from sandstone, of cruciform plan with clerestoried nave and lofty tower placed to the left of the main façade. In addition, the building consists of side aisles, porch, chancel, sacristy, chapel, and gallery. Roof framings are exposed timber internally and sheeted with slates externally. Walls are rock faced ashlar generally with dressed window and door surrounds and mullions. Internally the altars contain some finely crafted marble pieces and large stained glass windows in groups of three, giving a soft filtered light. A feature of the cathedral is the massive tower bell weighing 17 long cwt 0 qtr 0 lb (1,904 lb or 864 kg) cast in the factory of Byrnes, of Dublin. The marble high altar was brought from Carrara, Italy and has subsequently been removed.[2]
George Fincham built a two-manual organ of 10 speaking stops for St Michael's Church in 1887. This was removed in 1892 and installed in the Chapel of St Peter at the Church of England Grammar School, Melbourne. The present organ, installed on the rear gallery in 1999 by Laurie Pipe Organs, was built by Samuel Lewis, an employee of George Fincham, who was his first apprentice as far back as 1864 and his first foreman, it is thought for the Dorcas Street Presbyterian Church in South Melbourne; it originally had two manuals and 17 speaking stops. It was installed at the Presbyterian Church, Denbigh Road, Armadale, in 1911 and in 1939 the mechanical action was converted to tubular-pneumatic by C.W. Andrewartha, who supplied a detached console. The casework with its carved transom rails, may also date from this time. The instrument was rebuilt in 1975 by Laurie Pipe Organs who converted the manual actions back to mechanical, electrified the pedal and stop actions, provided a new attached drawstop console, and supplied new Mixtures to the Great and Swell, a Trumpet 8ft, and the pedal upperwork.[3]
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In 2002, Vincent Kieran Kiss, 70, pleaded guilty in the Sydney District Court for sex crimes against four teenage boys, aged 13 to 17, between 1966 and 1973 at locations including Albury, Yass and Sydney. Kiss was the Catholic Diocesan Director of Youth in Wagga Wagga at the time of the offences and the four victims were members of the Young Christian Students Association.[4]
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