Roman Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba
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Diocese of Toowoomba Dioecesis Tuumbanus |
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St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba, 2014
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| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| Territory |
Darling Downs and South West regions of Queensland |
| Ecclesiastical province | Province of Brisbane |
| Metropolitan | Brisbane |
| Coordinates | 27°33′41″S 151°57′53″E / 27.56139°S 151.96472°E |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 487,456 km2 (188,208 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2004) 232,900 65,912 ( 28.3%%) |
| Parishes |
 35 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Latin Rite |
| Established | 28 May 1929 |
| Cathedral | St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba |
| Patron saint | Mary of the Southern Cross, Blessed Virgin Mary |
| Secular priests | 50 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Robert McGuckin |
| Emeritus Bishops | William Morris |
| Website | |
| Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba is a Latin Rite suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, established in 1929, covering the Darling Downs and south west regions of Queensland, Australia.
St Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba. The diocese covers an area of 487,000 km2. with 48 priests and 57 members of religious orders. There are 77,400 Catholics among the 276,700 total population within the diocese's borders.
In 1929, the Diocese of Toowoomba was excised from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.
Bishop Bill Morris was appointed in 1992 to head the Toowoomba diocese. In 2006 he released a pastoral letter calling for discussion of the ordination of married men and the ordination of women to compensate for the lack of priests in his large diocese.
An apostolic visitation of the diocese was conducted by Charles J. Chaput OFM Cap., then Archbishop of Denver, during April 2007. Discussions continued between Morris and the Vatican for several years.
On 1 May 2011, Bishop Morris announced his early retirement at age 67, stressing the fact that he had not resigned. On 2 May 2011, the Holy See removed Morris from pastoral care of the diocese, attracting international press coverage. The Holy See appointed Brian Vincent Finnigan, Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, to serve as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese.
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