Roman Catholic Diocese of Wollongong

Diocese of Wollongong Dioecesis Vollongongensis
Location
Country	Australia
Territory	OP
Bishops emeritus	Peter Ingham
Map
Website
Catholic Diocese of Wollongong

The Diocese of Wollongong is a

St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Wollongong is the cathedra of the Bishop of Wollongong, currently Brian Mascord.

History

On 15 November 1951, Pope Pius XII announced that a new diocese would be created from the two archdioceses of Sydney and Canberra & Goulburn. To be named Wollongong, the diocese was officially established on 11 February 1952. Bishop Thomas McCabe was transferred from Port Pirie to become its first bishop and the historic Church of St Francis Xavier in Wollongong became the cathedral. At the time of establishment, there was a Catholic population of approximately 22,000 in 18 parishes.^{[citation needed]}

While the Wollongong diocese is relatively recent, the churches of

Initially, the diocese was composed of parishes in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Southern Highland regions. In 1954 it was expanded to include Camden and Campbelltown and in 1975 the parishes of Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma reverted to the Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn. The boundaries of the diocese have since remained the same. The most recently established parish is Oran Park (founded on 22 June 2015),[1] which meets the borders of the Archdiocese of Sydney and the Diocese of Parramatta. Created out of Camden Parish, Oran Park was founded to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding population in the region.

In 1959, Pope

Bishops of Wollongong:[2]

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

• Peter Andrew Comensoli
  , appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney in 2011

Cathedral

Parishes

The diocese is divided into ten deaneries that administer individual parishes, dedicated to particular saints:^[3]

1. Illawarra deanery with regular
   Co-Cathedral), Gwynneville (St Brigid), Unanderra (Immaculate Conception), Warrawong (St Francis of Assisi), West Wollongong
   (St Therese), and Wollongong (St Francis Xavier)
2. Macarthur deanery with regular liturgical services held in the parishes of Camden (St Paul), Campbelltown (St John the Evangelist), Eagle Vale (Mary Immaculate), Ingleburn (Holy Family), Macquarie Fields (Mary, Mother of the Church), Picton (St Anthony), Rosemeadow (Our Lady Help of Christians), Ruse (St Thomas More), The Oaks (St Aloysius Parish), and Varroville (Our Lady of Mount Carmel)
3. South Coast deanery with regular liturgical services held in the parishes of
   St Michael), and Vincentia
   (Holy Spirit)
4. Southern Highlands deanery with regular liturgical services held in the parishes of
   Moss Vale (St Paul) and Penrose Park (Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy)

The diocese is the eighth largest diocese in Australia in terms of Catholic population (out of 33 total) and the largest non-capital city diocese. The diocese now ministers to 195,000 Catholics in 31 parishes, with 15 migrant chaplaincies. There are 43 Catholic schools, various youth ministries and a range of aged care, disability and welfare services together with special faith movements in the local area.^[citation needed]

See also