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Roman Catholic Diocese of Armidale

Diocese of Armidale

Dioecesis Armidalensis
Cathedral of St Mary and St Joseph, Armidale; consecrated in 1912
Location
CountryAustralia
TerritoryNew England and Barwon River regions of New South Wales
Ecclesiastical provinceSydney
Coordinates30°30′58″S 151°39′50″E / 30.51611°S 151.66389°E / -30.51611; 151.66389
Statistics
Area91,500 km2 (35,300 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2006)
Decrease 146,769
Decrease 43,223 (Steady 29.4%)
ParishesSteady 25
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established28 November 1869
CathedralSaints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
Bishopsede vacante
Metropolitan ArchbishopAnthony Fisher OP
Website
armidale.catholic.org.au

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 in 1869 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, presently vacant after Michael Kennedy was appointed to the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.[1][2] The Administrator is 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.

History

Erected 28 November 1869.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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 blessing of the current cathedral by Cardinal Moran.

Bishops

Bishops of Armidale:[3][7]

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.

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

Cathedral

Main article: Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic 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.[8] It was solemnly dedicated on 12 December 1919.[citation needed]

Parishes

As of November 2014, there are currently 25 parishes located in Diocese of Armidale:

References

  1. ^ "Diocese of Armidale". The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia. National Council of Priests of Australia. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  2. ^ "Bishop Kennedy appointed Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle". Australian Catholics Bishops Conference Media Blog. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Diocese of Armidale". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 19 February 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
  4. ^ "Decree, St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church | EWTN".
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Bishop Timothy O'Mahony Sesquicentenary Bishop Timothy O'Mahony Sesquicentenary – Welcome | Catholic Diocese of Armidale".
  7. ^ "The ten Catholic Bishops of Armidale". The Armidale Star. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  8. ^ "The Catholic Cathedral of St Mary and St Joseph, Armidale". Organ Historical Trust of Australia. 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
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