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Archdiocese of Melbourne Archidioecesis Melburnensis | |
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| Location | |
| Country |  Australia |
| Territory | Melbourne |
| Ecclesiastical province | Melbourne |
| Coordinates | 37°48′32″S144°58′46″E / 37.80889°S 144.97944°E /-37.80889; 144.97944 |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 27,194 km2 (10,500 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2020) 4,810,000 1,264,150 ( 26.3%) |
| Parishes | 216 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 31 March 1874 |
| Cathedral | St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne |
| Patron saint | Saint Patrick |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Archbishop | Peter Comensoli |
| Auxiliary Bishops | Martin Ashe Terence Curtin Anthony Ireland Thinh Xuan Nguyen Rene Ramirez[1] |
| Bishops emeritus | Denis Hart Peter John Elliott |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| www | |
TheRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is aLatin Ritemetropolitan archdiocese inMelbourne,Victoria,Australia. Erected initially in 1847 as the Diocese of Melbourne, asuffragan diocese ofArchdiocese of Sydney, the diocese was elevated in 1874 as an archdiocese of theEcclesiastical Province of Melbourne and is the metropolitan for the suffragan dioceses ofSale,Sandhurst,Ballarat, and theUkrainian Catholic Eparchy of Ss Peter and Paul. TheArchdiocese of Hobart is attached to the archdiocese for administrative purposes.St Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne, currentlyPeter Comensoli, who succeededDenis Hart on 1 August 2018.
According to the 2006 Commonwealth Census figures, there were 4,932,423 people within the province. Of these, 1,349,828 were Catholic, about 28% of the population.[2]
When Melbourne, then called the Port Philip Settlement, and the surrounding area was being settled by European settlers in the 1830s, the area was a part of theRoman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Sydney in the Archdiocese of Sydney. In 1839,John Polding, the Archbishop of Sydney, placedPatrick Bonaventure Geoghegan in charge of the 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.[3]
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, withJames 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 thegold rush.[3] James Goold was also instrumental in setting up many Catholic schools in the diocese and in introducing several religious orders devoted to education and works of charity, including theSociety of Jesus, theChristian Brothers, theSisters of Mercy, theGood Shepherd Nuns, thePresentation Sisters, theFaithful Companions of Jesus and theLittle Sisters of the Poor.[3]
When Goold was appointed Bishop of Melbourne in 1848, St Francis' Church became the cathedral church of the new diocese. Construction of a new church on Eastern Hill in 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 ofSandhurst (comprising four parishes) andBallarat were formed out of territory of the Diocese of Melbourne, with it becoming a metropolitan archdiocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Melbourne and responsible for Sandhurst and Ballarat dioceses assuffragan dioceses. The suffraganDiocese of Sale was similarly formed on 26 April 1887 out of the archdiocese.
Under Goold's successor,Thomas Joseph Carr, additional teaching orders were introduced to the archdiocese, including theMarist Brothers, theSisters of Charity, theSisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, theSisters of Loreto, theSisters of St. Joseph and theSisters 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.[3]
Until the mid-20th century, the Catholics of the archdiocese were almost all Irish or of Irish origin, when expansion of the migration programs saw the arrival of non-Irish Catholics from continental Europe. The priesthood was exclusively Irish until the early part of the 20th century, when training of native born priests began.
The following individuals were Archbishops of Melbourne, with one being acardinal while in office as archbishop, as well as having civilian honours. Their highest title is shown here:[4]
| 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 toArchbishop 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 theMilitary 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 appointedArchbishop Emeritus of Melbourne | ||
| 5 | James Cardinal Knox † | Archbishop of Melbourne | 13 April 1967 | 1 July 1974 | 4 years, 309 days | Elevated toPrefect of theCongregation for Sacraments and Divine Worship |
| Cardinal-Priest ofSanta 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 thePontifical 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 | 1 August 2018 | 17 years, 40 days | Retirement and appointed Archbishop Emeritus of Melbourne | ||
| 9 | Peter Comensoli | Bishop of Broken Bay | 12 December 2014 | 31 July 2018 | 3 years, 231 days | Elevated to Archbishop of Melbourne |
| Archbishop of Melbourne | 1 August 2018 | present | 6 years, 247 days | n/a |
The archbishop of the archdiocese,Peter Comensoli, is assisted by severalauxiliary bishops:
There are also emeritus auxiliary bishops:
appointed bishop 30 Apr 2007
Monsignor Greg Bennet was appointedvicar general and moderator of the curia of the archdiocese in February 2012.
BishopTim Costelloe,SDB was appointed as an auxiliary bishop on 30 April 2007 with responsibility for the northern region of the archdiocese. On 20 February 2012,Pope Benedict XVI elevated him toArchbishop of Perth, Western Australia.
BishopLes Tomlinson was the auxiliary bishop for the Eastern Region. He was appointed auxiliary bishop on 5 May 2009 and continued until he was installed asBishop of Sandhurst in March 2012.[6]
BishopVincent Long Van Nguyen,OFM Conv was the auxiliary bishop for the western region and former assistant superior general for theConventual Franciscans for Asia and Oceania. He was appointed auxiliary bishop on 20 May 2011 and continued until he was appointed Bishop of Parramatta on 5 May 2016 and installed on 16 June 2016.
BishopMark Stuart Edwards,OMI was the auxiliary bishop for the Western Region, having been appointed bishop 7 Nov 2014. He was appointed Bishop of Wagga Wagga on 26 May 2020.
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2017) |
There are 232 parishes in the archdiocese and 369 diocesan priests and 16 permanent deacons. The archdiocese has a total of 294 priests and one permanent deacon 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 six 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 10 Catholic hospitals, 18 homes for children, 27 for the elderly and 10 for other purposes.[2]
Cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have come to light in recent years involving the Archdiocese of Melbourne as well as many regional Catholic jurisdictions, both inAustralia andaround the world.[7] Archbishop Denis Hart was cross-examined for three hours at the Parliamentary Inquiry over documents sent to the inquiry by victims and whistleblowers within the archdiocese.[8]Hart regretted the "slow start" made in the process of resolving complaints and investigating instances of abuse but "st[ood] by what [they] did since 1996 nevertheless".[9]The inquiry's report was due to be delivered to the Victorian parliament in September 2013.
In May 2020, newly disclosed portions of theRoyal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse report, which was originally published in redacted form in December 2017, revealed that priests and clergy staff accused of abusing children within the Archdiocese of Melbourne were sometimes "dealt with" by being transferred to other parishes.[10]
