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Roman Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba

Diocese of Toowoomba
Dioecesis Tuumbanus
St Patricks Cathedral, Toowoomba.jpg
St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba, 2014
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 / -27.56139; 151.96472
Statistics
Area 487,456 km2 (188,208 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2004)
Decrease 232,900
Increase 65,912 (Increase 28.3%%)
Parishes Steady 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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