Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba

Catholic diocese in Queensland, Australia

Diocese of Toowoomba

Dioecesis Tuumbanus

St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba, 2014

Location
Country| Australia
Territory| Darling Downs and
South West regions of Queensland
Ecclesiastical province| Province of Brisbane
Metropolitan| Brisbane
Coordinates| 27°33′41″S 151°57′53″E﻿ / ﻿27.56139°S 151.96472°E﻿ / -27.56139; 151.96472
Statistics
Area| 487,456 km2 (188,208 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics| (as of 2004)
232,900
65,912 ( 28.3%%)
Parishes|  35
Information
Denomination| Roman Catholic
Rite| Latin Rite
Established| 28 May 1929
Cathedral| St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba
Patron saint| Mary of the Southern Cross, Blessed Virgin Mary
Secular priests| 50
Current leadership
Pope| Francis
Bishop| Kenneth Howell
Bishops emeritus| Robert McGuckin
William Morris
Map
Website
Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba: is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, established in 1929, covering the Darling Downs and south west regions of Queensland, Australia.

St Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba. The diocese covers an area of 487,000 square kilometres (188,000 sq mi). with 48 priests and 57 members of religious orders. There are 77,400 Catholics among the 276,700 total population within the diocese's borders.[citation needed]

## History

[edit]

In 1929, the Diocese of Toowoomba was excised from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.[1]

### Recent history

[edit]

Main article: Bill Morris (bishop)

Bishop Bill Morris was appointed in 1992 to head the Toowoomba diocese. In 2006 he released a pastoral letter[2] calling for discussion of the ordination of married men and the ordination of women to compensate for the lack of priests in his large diocese.[3]

An apostolic visitation of the diocese was conducted by Charles J. Chaput OFM Cap., then Archbishop of Denver,[4] during April 2007. Discussions continued between Morris and the Vatican for several years.

On 1 May 2011, Bishop Morris announced his early retirement at age 67, stressing the fact that he had not resigned. On 2 May 2011, the Holy See removed Morris from pastoral care of the diocese, attracting international press coverage. The Holy See appointed Brian Vincent Finnigan, Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, to serve as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese.[5]

On 14 May 2012, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI had named the Reverend Monsignor Robert McGuckin as bishop-elect of the Toowoomba diocese. He was installed on 11 July.

On 24 May 2023, Pope Francis announced Bishop Kenneth Howell would be the Bishop of the Diocese of Toowoomba, after accepting the resignation of Bishop Robert McGuckin.[6]

## Bishops

[edit]

### Ordinaries

[edit]

The following have served as Bishops of Toowoomba:[7]

Order  | Name  | Date enthroned  | Reign ended  | Term of office  | Reason for term end

|
|
|
|
|

1 | James Byrne | 28 May 1929 | 11 February 1938 | 8 years, 259 days | Died in office
2 | Joseph Basil Roper | 13 July 1938 | 14 October 1952 | 14 years, 93 days | Resigned and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Toowoomba
3 | William Joseph Brennan | 7 August 1953 | 11 September 1975 | 22 years, 35 days | Died in office
4 | Edward Francis Kelly, MSC | 19 December 1975 | 20 November 1992 | 16 years, 337 days | Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus
5 | William Morris | 20 November 1992 | 2 May 2011 | 18 years, 163 days | Retired[3][8][9] and appointed Bishop Emeritus
6 | Robert McGuckin | 11 July 2012 | 24 May 2023 | 10 years, 317 days | Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus
7 | Kenneth Howell | 24 May 2023 | present | 1 year, 217 days |

### Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

[edit]

* John Alexius Bathersby, appointed Bishop of Cairns in 1986, and subsequently Archbishop of Brisbane.

## Parishes

[edit]

There are currently 35 parishes in the diocese and 42 diocesan priests.

## Schools

[edit]

The diocese has the following schools:

* Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, Dalby
* St. Mary's College, Toowoomba
* St Ursula's College, Toowoomba
* St Joseph's College, Toowoomba
* St. Mary's School, Charleville
* St. Finbarr's School, Quilpie
* St Saviour's College, Toowoomba
* Downlands Sacred Heart College, Toowoomba
* Mary MacKillop Catholic College, Toowoomba

## Heritage listings

[edit]

The diocese has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

* corner of James and Neil Streets, Toowoomba: St Patrick's Cathedral[10]
* 73 Margaret Street, Toowoomba: Bishop's House[11]

## Sexual abuse

[edit]

In February 2014 the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, a royal commission of inquiry initiated in 2013 by the Australian Government and supported by all of its state governments,[12] began an investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse and the response by the Diocesan Catholic Education Office.[13] The former Bishop of Toowoomba, Bill Morris, admitted that "there had been a number of significant systemic failings which led to the failure to properly deal with" the abuse of thirteen young girls at a Toowoomba Catholic primary School in 2007–08.[14]

## See also

[edit]

* Catholicism portal
* Queensland portal

* Roman Catholicism in Australia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Our Story". Archdiocesan Profile. Archdiocese of Brisbane. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
2. ^ Morris, William Martin (17 November 2006). "Advent Pastoral letter" (PDF). Diocese of Toowoomba. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
3. ^ a b Livingstone, Tess; Gearing, Amanda (2 May 2011). "Bishop of Toowoomba, William Morris, claims unfair dismissal by Pope". The Australian. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
4. ^ "Call to ordain women". The Courier-Mail. Australia. 4 January 2007. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
5. ^ "Diocese of Toowoomba". Apostolic Nunciature to Australia (Press release). Canberra, Australia. 2 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
6. ^ "Resignations and Appointments, 24.05.2023". The Holy See. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
7. ^ "Diocese of Toowoomba". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
8. ^ "New document reveals years of Vatican efforts before ousting Toowoomba bishop". Catholic News Agency. United States. 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
9. ^ "Backing bishop's sacking, Australian bishops cite doctrine and discipline issues". Catholic News Agency. United States. 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
10. ^ "St Patricks Cathedral (entry 600844)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
11. ^ "Bishop's House (entry 600845)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
12. ^ "Letters Patent". Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
13. ^ "Case Study 6, February 2014, Brisbane". Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. 2014. Archived from the original on 16 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
14. ^ "Royal Commission Toowoomba Hearing concludes > Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne: Church in Melbourne, Australia > News - Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne: Church in Melbourne, Australia". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2014.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Brian Sparksman: The Practice of Ecumenism in a Rural Australian Diocese. In: Catholic University of America: The Jurist 69 (2008), p. 114–135 (online via paid subscription).

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba.

* "Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba". Archived from the original on 4 September 2020.
* "Our Diocese (with timeline)". Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020.

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