The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is located in the state of
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It is a
suffragan diocese
A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...
of the
Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a
vicariate apostolic in 1877 and was elevated to a
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...
in 1941. Its territorial remit is
Far North Queensland
Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...
.
St Monica's Cathedral is the
seat
A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation.
Types of seat
The ...
of the Catholic Bishop of Cairns. On 6 June, 2024, it was announced that
Joe Caddy, formerly
Vicar general
A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...
of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, has been appointed as bishop of Cairns.
History
Following the discovery of gold near
Cooktown in 1872 and the establishment and growth of sugar production during the 1870s, the Bishop of Brisbane,
James Quinn, visited Cooktown in 1874. The first church was opened a year later.
Quinn had earlier been petitioning the
Roman Curia to create a
vicariate in north Queensland to minister to Catholics in the region and to
evangelise the
Aborigines, with the Vicariate Apostolic of Queensland officially created on 27 January 1877 by
Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 β 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...
. The Vicariate consisted of all the land in Queensland north of the line starting at Cape Hinchinbrook and then west to the border with
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
(now
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
). The Very Reverend
Adolphus Lecaille, then the Vicar-General in the
Diocese of Perth in
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, was appointed the first Apostolic Pro-Vicar of the Queensland vicariate with Reverend Father Tarquin Tanganelli as the rector. Lecaille was to be based in
Cooktown while Tanganelli was to be based at the
Hodgkinson Minerals Area to minister to the needs of the miners and establish churches there. Due to a breakdown in communication, the news of the new Vicariate does not appear to have reached Australia until the arrival of Tanganelli and two other Italian priests in November 1877 to serve in the Vicariate. Lecaille (who was then based in
Geraldton in Western Australia) never took up his appointment in Queensland.
An initial attempt to install Italian priests from the
Pontifical Seminary of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul of Rome was a failure; mainly due to cultural and language issues with both the indigenous and predominantly Irish lay population.
Quinn, from Ireland, appointed one of his fellow countryman,
John Cani as the first Pro-Vicar who served up until Quinn's death in 1882 when Cani returned to Brisbane before being appointed as the first
Bishop of Rockhampton. A short term under
Monsignor Paul Fortini followed, marked by his clash with the
laity
In religious organizations, the laity () β individually a layperson, layman or laywoman β consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...
in
Herberton which he then placed under
interdict in 1883; this meant that
sacraments could not be celebrated in that town. Fortini was recalled to Rome.
A stable period followed under the pastoral care of the
Augustinians
Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12thβ13 ...
. The number of parishioners grew from approximately 2,000 (in 1884) to about 4,000 (in the 1890s); and to approximately 10,000 Catholics (by 1914) spread across eight church districts with 13 priests.
The growth of pastoral industries and mining in the interwar years led to the expansion of the Vicariate west across the
Atherton Tablelands and the creation of an additional nine parishes; and eventual establishment as a suffragan diocese in 1941.
Ordinaries
The following individuals have been elected as Roman Catholic Bishop of Cairns, or any of its precursor titles:
:
Parishes
The diocese is divided into three separate deaneries that administer individual
parishes
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
:
#The Northern deanery is formed of the following parishes
Cairns
Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
(
St Monica's Cathedral), Edmonton (St Therese's in Bentley Park), Earlville (Our Lady Help of Christians),
Gordonvale (St Michael), West Cairns (St Francis Xavier's in Manunda), Mossman & Port Douglas (St Augustine's in
Mossman, and St Mary's in
Port Douglas), North Cairns (Mother of Good Counsel), Northern Beaches (Holy Cross in Trinity Park, Sacred Heart in Freshwater, and St Augustine's in Stratford), and Parramatta Park (St Joseph's).
#The Southern deanery is based on the
Cassowary Coast with parishes at
Babinda (St Rita's),
Innisfail (Mother of Good Counsel), Mourilyan & South Johnstone (Christ the King at
Mourilyan, and St Rita's at South Johnstone), Silkwood (St John's), and
Tully (St Clare of Montefalco in Tully, Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cardwell, and Holy Spirit at Wongaling Beach).
#The Western deanery extends west of the Tablelands with parishes:
Atherton (St Joseph),
Cooktown (St Mary),
Dimbulah (St Anthony),
Georgetown (St Patrick),
Gulf Savannah
The Gulf Country or North West Queensland is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also c ...
(Our Lady Help of Christians),
Herberton (St Patrick),
Malanda (
St James),
Mareeba (St Thomas of Villanova in Mareeba, and St Christopher's in
Kuranda),
Millaa Millaa (St Rita),
Ravenshoe (St Teresa of the Child Jesus in Ravenshoe, and Holy Rosary at
Mount Garnet),
Weipa (St Joseph), and Thursday Island (including
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church on
Thursday Island, St Joseph's on
Hammond Island, Holy Family on
Horn Island, and St Stephen at
Bamaga).
See also
*
Catholic Education Cairns
*
Roman Catholicism in Australia
References
External links
Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Cairns
Cairns
Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
Cairns, Roman Catholic Diocese of
Cairns Region
Cairns
Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
Cairns
Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
Cairns
Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...