| Archdiocese of Melbourne Archidioecesis Melburnensis |
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St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne |
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| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| Territory | Melbourne |
| Ecclesiastical province | Melbourne |
| Metropolitan | Melbourne |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 27,194 km2 (10,500 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2010) 3,844,000 1,085,000 ( 28.2%) |
| Parishes | 219 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Latin Rite |
| Established | 31 March 1874 |
| Cathedral | St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne |
| Patron saint | St. Patrick |
| Current leadership | |
| Archbishop | Denis James Hart |
| Auxiliary Bishop | Les Tomlinson, Timothy Costelloe, Peter John Elliott, Vincent Long Van Nguyen |
| Emeritus Bishops | Joseph O'Connell, Hilton Deakin |
| Website | |
| Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne | |
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Erected initially in 1847 as the Diocese of Melbourne, a suffragan diocese of Archdiocese of Sydney, the diocese was elevated in 1874 as an archdiocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Melbourne and is responsible for the suffragan dioceses of Sale, Sandhurst and Ballarat. The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Ss Peter and Paul and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hobart are attached to the archdiocese, for adminitrative purposes.
St Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the archbishop of Melbourne, currently Denis Hart.
According to the 2006 Commonwealth Census figures, there were 4,932,423 people within the province, of which 1,349,828 were Catholic, about 28% of the population.[1]
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When Melbourne, then called the Port Philip Settlement, and the surrounding area was being settled by European settlers in the 1830's, 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 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.[2]
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.[2] James Goold was also instrumental in setting up many catholic schools in the diocese and in introducing to the diocese several religious orders devoted to education and works of charity, including the Society of Jesus, the Christian Brothers, Sisters of Mercy, Good Shepherd Nuns, Presentation Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus, and Little Sisters of the Poor.[2]
When Goold was appointed bishop of Melbourne in 1848, St Francis Catholic Church became the cathedral church of the new diocese. Construction of a new church on the Eastern Hill of 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 the diocese of Melbourne becoming a metropolitan archdiocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Melbourne, and responsible for the dioceses of Sandhurst and Ballarat as suffragan dioceses. The suffragan Diocese of Sale was similarly formed in 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.[2]
Until the mid-twentieth century, the Catholics of the archdiocese were almost all Irish or of Irish origin. The priesthood was exclusively Irish until the early part of the twentieth century, when training of native born priests began.
The following individuals were elected as Archbishop of Melbourne, with one elected as a Cardinal while in office as Archbishop, as well receiving civilian honours. Their highest title is shown here:[3]
| Order | Name | Title | Date enthroned | Reign ended | Term of office | Reason for term end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Goold, OSA † | Bishop of Melbourne | 9 July 1847 | 31 March 1874 | 26 years, 265 days | Elevated to Archbishop of Melbourne |
| Archbishop of Melbourne | 31 March 1874 | 11 June 1886 | 12 years, 72 days | Died in office | ||
| 2 | Thomas Joseph Carr † | Archbishop of Melbourne | 29 September 1886 | 6 May 1917 | 30 years, 219 days | Died in office |
| Bishop of the Military Ordinariate of Australia | 1912 | 1917 | 5 years | Resigned | ||
| 3 | Daniel Mannix † | Coadjutor Archbishop of Melbourne | 1 July 1912 | 6 May 1917 | 4 years, 309 days | Elevated to Archbishop of Melbourne |
| Archbishop of Melbourne | 6 May 1917 | 6 November 1963 | 46 years, 184 days | Died in office | ||
| Bishop of the Military Ordinariate of Australia | ||||||
| 4 | Justin Simonds † | Coadjutor Archbishop of Melbourne | 6 September 1942 | 6 November 1963 | 21 years, 61 days | Elevated to Archbishop of Melbourne |
| Archbishop of Melbourne | 6 November 1963 | 13 May 1967 | 3 years, 188 days | Retired and appointed Archbishop Emeritus of Melbourne | ||
| 5 | James Cardinal Knox † | Archbishop of Melbourne | 13 April 1967 | 1 July 1974 | 4 years, 309 days | Resigned. Later elevated to Prefect of the Congregation for Sacraments and Divine Worship |
| Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Vallicella | 5 March 1973 | 26 June 1983 | 10 years, 113 days | Died in office | ||
| Prefect of the Congregation for Sacraments and Divine Worship | 25 January 1974 | 4 August 1981 | 7 years, 191 days | Elevated to the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family | ||
| President of the Pontifical Council for the Family | 4 August 1981 | 26 June 1983 | 1 year, 326 days | Died in office | ||
| 6 | Sir Frank Little, KBE † | Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne | 16 November 1972 | 1 July 1974 | 1 year, 227 days | Elevated to Archbishop of Melbourne |
| Archbishop of Melbourne | 1 July 1974 | 16 July 1996 | 22 years, 15 days | Resigned and appointed Archbishop Emeritus of Melbourne | ||
| 7 | George Cardinal Pell, AC | Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne | 30 March 1987 | 16 July 1996 | 9 years, 108 days | Elevated to Archbishop of Melbourne |
| Archbishop of Melbourne | 6 July 1996 | 26 March 2001 | 4 years, 253 days | Elevated to Archbishop of Sydney | ||
| 8 | Denis Hart | Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne | 10 November 1997 | 22 June 2001 | 3 years, 224 days | Elevated to Archbishop of Melbourne |
| Archbishop of Melbourne | 22 June 2001 | present | 10 years, 248 days | n/a |
The present archbishop of the archdiocese is Denis Hart. He is assisted by auxiliary bishops:
There are also emeritus auxiliary bishops:
The Vicar-General of the archdiocese is Bishop Les Tomlinson.
There are 232 parishes in the archdiocese and 369 diocesan priests. The archdiocese has a total of 294 priests 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 6 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 ten Catholic hospitals, 18 homes for children, 27 for the elderly and ten for other purposes.[1]
The Melbourne archdiocese has been the scene of a series of sexual abuse cases which have come to light in recent years and have also extended to many regional Catholic jurisdictions, both in Australia and around the world.
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