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 An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

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 Joe Caddy order of Australia, AM (born 14 January 1960) is an Australian bishop. He is currently the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns. He was previously vicar general of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. Early life ...

, 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 Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the '' Endeavour'', for ...

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 The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

to create a

vicariate A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

in north Queensland to minister to Catholics in the region and to

evangelise Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

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 – 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 Adolphus Joseph Lecaille (c. 1825–1908) was a Catholic priest. He was one of the pioneer priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Geraldton in Western Australia. Early life Adolphus Joseph Lecaille was born in Belgium. He expressed a vocatio ...

, 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

while Tanganelli was to be based at the

Hodgkinson Minerals Area The Hodgkinson Mineral Area was a mining area near the Hodgkinson River about west of Cairns, in the present-day Shire of Mareeba in Queensland, Australia. It was the site of a gold rush in the 1870s. History Prospector James Venture Mullig ...

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 Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

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 John Cani, also known as Giovanni Cani (22 December 1836 – 3 March 1898) was a Roman Catholic Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton, Bishop of Rockhampton. Early life Cani was born at Castel Bolognese, Province of Ravenna, Italy, and educate ...

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 Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Paul Fortini followed, marked by his clash with the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

Herberton Herberton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Herberton had a population of 895 people. Geography Herberton is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. It is situate ...

which he then placed under

interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits certain persons or groups from participating in particular rites, or that the rites and services of the church are prohibited in certain territories for ...

in 1883; this meant that

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...

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 12th–13 ...

. 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 The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau, which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It has very deep, rich basaltic soils and the main industry is agriculture. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the ...

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 Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia, approximately north of Cairns. In the , the locality of Port Douglas had a population of 3,650 people. The town's population can often double, however, ...

), 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 Babinda is a rural town and locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. Babinda and Tully annually compete for the Golden Gumboot, an award for Australia's wettest town. Babinda is usually the winner, recording an annual average rain ...

(St Rita's), Innisfail (Mother of Good Counsel), Mourilyan & South Johnstone (Christ the King at

Mourilyan Mourilyan is a town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was established around the Mourilyan sugar mill which provided much of the employment in the area until it was destroyed ...

, 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),

(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),

(St Patrick), Malanda (

St James Saint James or St. James may refer to: People Saints *James, brother of Jesus (died 62 or 69), also known as James the Just *James the Great (died 44), Apostle, also known as James, son of Zebedee, or Saint James the Greater *James, son of Alphaeu ...

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the water ...

(St Thomas of Villanova in Mareeba, and St Christopher's in Kuranda), Millaa Millaa (St Rita),

Ravenshoe Ravenshoe ( ) is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Ravenshoe had a population of 1,332 people. Geography Ravenshoe is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. It is ...

(St Teresa of the Child Jesus in Ravenshoe, and Holy Rosary at

Mount Garnet Mount Garnet is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mount Garnet had a population of 532 people. Geography Various small communities populate the area around Mount Garnet. These ...

Weipa Weipa () is a coastal mining town in the local government area of Weipa Town in Queensland. It is one of the largest towns on the Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast. The Port of Weipa is main ...

(St Joseph), and Thursday Island (including Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church on

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

, St Joseph's on Hammond Island, Holy Family on Horn Island, and St Stephen at

Bamaga Bamaga ( , ) is an Indigneous town and locality about from the northern tip of Cape York in the north of Queensland, Australia. It is within the Northern Peninsula Area Region. It is one of the northernmost settlements in continental Australi ...

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Cairns

Cairns, Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns Region

History

Ordinaries

Parishes

See also

References

External links