Catholics for Renewal

Subtitle

Diocesan Profiles 2020

KNOW THE DIOCESES IN 2020

(No.1.  29 October 2020)

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As foreshadowed in the September Newsletter, Catholics for Renewal today commences publication of a new series of short fact-based profiles of each of the 28 territorial dioceses of the Catholic Church in Australia. They have been prepared by Dr Peter Wilkinson, who has a well-established reputation for his studies on Church councils and ministry, and are based on a range of authoritative church and government published material, all listed in each profile.


To ensure that the data is accurate and up-to-date, each draft profile is being sent to the diocesan bishop prior to publication with an invitation to correct any errors and to advise of any recent changes made or future plans being contemplated in relation to the recommendations in The Light from the Southern Cross. Where responses have been received they are noted and corrections and updates incorporated.


The series is intended as a useful resource for the people of each diocese, for Australian Catholics generally, and for those persons who have been called to participate in the Plenary Council particularly. Most will be unfamiliar with the characteristics of dioceses other than their own and what is happening elsewhere, and it is hoped that the information in the profiles will foster greater understanding and communion among the dioceses.  

 

The profiles are being prepared in no particular order, and each month, over the next 7-8 months, four profiles will be published with each Newsletter.  The profiles published with this edition are:


Archdiocese of Hobart               (to view, click HERE)

Diocese of Sandhurst                (to view, click HERE)

Diocese of Cairns                      (to view, click HERE)

Diocese of Wagga Wagga         (to view, click HERE)

 

To have a clearer understanding of where the various dioceses are geographically located, also published today, with the generous permission of the National Council of Priests, is the map of the 28 territorial dioceses which appears in The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia.

Source of Map: The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia 2020-2021

Reproduced with kind permission of the publisher- National Council of Priests

Australia’s 28 territorial dioceses are administratively and geographically divided into 7 archdioceses (State and National capital cities) and 21 dioceses.  Twenty-six of the dioceses are organised into 5 ‘provinces’, generally following State/Territory boundaries and named after the Metropolitan Archdioceses: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide (includes NT).  The other dioceses in each province are called ‘suffragan’ dioceses.  While the archdioceses of Canberra & Goulburn and Hobart are not included in the 5 provinces, they collaborate with the Provinces of Sydney and Melbourne respectively.  The Eastern Churches, ordinariates and personal prelature are not included in the provincial structure.