Chronology of Catholic Dioceses:Australia

See a list of abbreviations used in this list. See also our listing of current ecclesial jurisdictions.

We ask our readers to kindly help us establish the time and circumstances around the establishment of the diocese of Armidale.

Claes.Tande@katolsk.no

1514: Funchal (established by the Portuguese, see footnote) - Portugal
1533: Goa (detached from Funchal) - India
1558: Cochin (detached from Goa) - India
1558: Malacca (detached from Goa) - Malaysia
1606: São Tomé of Meliapore (detached from Cochin) - India
1612: Moçambique (AA, detached from São Tomé of Meliapore) - (Portuguese East Africa) Mozambique
1712: Islands of the Indian Ocean (AP, detached from Malacca) - Indian Ocean
1783: Moçambique (Prel.) - (Portuguese East Africa) Mozambique, Madagascar
1818: Cape of Good Hope and Adjacent Territories (AV, detached from AP Islands of the Indian Ocean, and from Moçambique [Prel.]) - Mauritius, Madagascar, South Africa, etc.
1819: Mauritius (AV, new name, previously Cape of Good Hope and Adjacent Territories AV) - Mauritius, Madagascar, South Africa, New Holland, etc.
1666: Missio Nova in Terra Australi Incognita (never executed)
First attempt of the Propaganda Fide:
1681: Terra Australis - Quinta Pars Orbis (AP, only erected on paper, never executed, if executed it would probably have been as a detachment from Malacca)
Second attempt ?:
1804: Appointment of the Rev. James Dixon, an Irish priest deported to Australia, as Apostolic Prefect (apparently as a personal title, not with a concomitant erection of a separate territorial jurisdiction)
1808: Rev. Dixon returns to Ireland.
Third attempt (failed):
1816: New Holland (AP, established from London District of England AV - but de jure it must be interpreted as a detachment from AP Islands of the Indian Ocean although documents to this effect are lacking) - Australia
1819: New Holland (suppressed, incorporated in Mauritius, AV) - Australia
"Reerection" of New Holland:
1834: New Holland and Van Diemen's Land (AV, detached from Mauritius, AV) - Australia
1842: Adelaide [D] and South Australia [AV] (4 Apr 1842, detached from New Holland and Van Diemen's Land AV) - Australia
1842: Hobartown [D] and Van Diemen's Land [AV] (4 Apr 1842, detached from New Holland and Van Diemen's Land AV) - Australia
1842: Sydney [D] and New Holland [VA] (4 Apr 1842, and new name, previously New Holland and Van Diemen's Land AV) - Australia
1842: Adelaide [D] (22 Apr 1842, new name and structure, previously Adelaide [D] and South Australia [AV]) - Australia
1842: Hobartown / Hobart-Town [D] (22 Apr 1842, new name and structure, previously Hobartown [D] and Van Diemen's Land [AV]) - Australia
1842: Sydney [Metr., 22 Apr 1842] and Mission to the Aborigines [AP] (new name and structure, previously Sydney [D] and New Holland [VA]) - Australia
1845: Perth (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1845: King George Sounde / The Sound (VA, detached from Sydney, and from Adelaide) - Australia
1845: Essington (VA, detached from Sydney) - Australia
1847: King George Sounde / The Sound (suppressed, territory incorporated in Perth, and in Adelaide) - Australia
1847: Victoria / Port Victoria (D, and new name, previously Essington) - Australia
1847: Maitland (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1847: Melbourne (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1847: Mission to the Aborigines [AP] (abolished) - Australia
1847: Sydney (Metr., now without the attached AP Mission to the Aborigines) - Australia
1859: Brisbane (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1860: New Norcia (AP., detached from Perth) - Australia
1862: Armidale (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1862: Goulburn (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1865: Bathurst (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1867: New Norcia (Abb. "nullius") - Australia
1874: Melbourne (Metr., was part of Metropolitan Province of Sydney) - Australia
1874: Ballarat (detached from Melbourne) - Australia
1874: Sandhurst (detached from Melbourne) - Australia
1877: Queensland (AV, detached from Brisbane) - Australia
1882: Rockhampton (detached from Brisbane) - Australia
1887: Adelaide (Metr.) - Australia
1887: Brisbane (Metr., was part of Metropolitan Province of Sydney) - Australia
1887: Cooktown (AV, new name, previously Queensland) - Australia
1887: Grafton (detached from Armidale) - Australia
1887: Kimberley (AV, detached from Perth) - Australia
1887: Kimberley in Western Australia (AV, new name, previously Kimberley AV) - Australia
1887: Port Augusta (detached from Adelaide) - Australia
1887: Queensland [for the Aborigines] (AV, detached from Queensland AV, mentioned in the Annuario Pontificio, but never fully established) - Australia
1887: Sale (detached from Melbourne) - Australia
1887: Wilcannia (detached from Armidale, and from Bathurst, and from Goulburn) - Australia
1888: Hobart (AD, and new name, previously Hobart-Town D) - Australia
1888: Victoria/Port Victoria and Palmerston (new name, previously Victoria/Port Victoria) - Australia
1898: Geraldton (detached from Perth) - Australia
1900: Lismore (new name, previously Grafton) - Australia
1906: Northern Territory (AP, administrated the vacant Diocese of Victoria/Port Victoria and Palmerston) - Australia
1910: Drisdale River (Miss., detached from Kimberley AV) - Australia
1913: Perth (Metr.) - Australia
1917: Wilcannia-Forbes (new name, previously Wilcannia) - Australia
1917: Wagga Wagga (detached from Goulburn) - Australia
1929: Toowoomba (detached from Brisbane) - Australia
1930: Townsville (detached from Rockhampton) - Australia
1933: Queensland [for the Aborigines] (dropped from the Annuario Pontificio) - Australia
1938: Darwin (new name at end of vacancy, previously Victoria/Port Victoria and Palmerston) - Australia
1938: Northern Territory (suppressed as Darwin was no longer vacant) - Australia
1941: Cairns (D, and new name, previously Cooktown AV) - Australia
1948: Canberra (AD, new name, previously Goulburn) - Australia
1951: Port Pirie (new name, previously Port Augusta) - Australia
1951: Wollongong (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1954: Bunbury (detached from Perth) - Australia
1958: Australia [Ukr.] (ApEx) - Australia
1958: Australia, New Zealand and Oceania [Ukr.] (ApEx, new name, previously Australia) - Australia
1959: The Kimberleys (AV, new name, previously Kimberley in Western Australia) - Australia
1966: Broome (D, and new name, previously The Kimberleys AV) - Australia
1969: Australia (Mil.Ord.) - Australia
1971: Kalumburu (Miss., previously Drisdale River) - Australia
1980: Kalumburu (suppressed, territory attached to Broome) - Australia
1982: New Norcia (suppressed, territory added to Perth) - Australia
1982: Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne [Ukr] (D, and new name, previously Australia, New Zealand and Oceania ApEx) - Australia
1982: Saint Maroun of Sydney [Mar.] - Australia
1986: Broken Bay (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1986: Parramatta (detached from Sydney) - Australia
1987: Saint Michael's of Sydney [Gr.-Melk.] - Australia
1995: Maitland-Newcastle (new name, previously Maitland) - Australia
2006: Saint Thomas the Apostle in Sydney [Kald.] - Australia
2006: Canberra-Goulburn (new name, previously Canberra) - Australia

"Reerection" of New Holland: