Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville

Diocese of Townsville Dioecesis Tovnsvillensis
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Townsville, taken in 1903 after Cyclone Leonta
Location
Country	Australia
Territory	North Queensland
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Brisbane
Metropolitan	Brisbane
Coordinates	19°15′32″S 146°48′42″E / 19.25889°S 146.81167°E
Statistics
Area	435,200 km^2 (168,000 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 252,289 74,084 ( 29.4%%)
Parishes	27
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	12 February 1930
Cathedral	Sacred Heart Cathedral, Townsville
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Sede vacante
Website
Catholic Diocese of Townsville

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville is a suffragan Latin Rite diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, erected in 1930, covering North Queensland, Australia.

Ordinaries

The following individuals have been elected as Roman Catholic Bishops of Townsville:^[1]

Order	Name	Date enthroned	Reign ended	Term of office	Reason for term end
1	Terence Bernard McGuire †	12 February 1930	14 June 1938	8 years, 122 days	Appointed Bishop of Goulburn
2	Hugo Edward Ryan †	13 July 1938	14 September 1967	29 years, 63 days	Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Townsville
3	Leonard Anthony Faulkner	14 September 1967	2 September 1983	15 years, 353 days	Elevated as Coadjutor Archbishop of Adelaide
4	Raymond Conway Benjamin †	14 February 1984	18 April 2000	16 years, 64 days	Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Townsville
5	Michael Ernest Putney †	24 January 2001	28 March 2014	13 years, 53 days	Died while still in office

Parishes

The diocese is divided into four separate deaneries that administer individual parishes:^[2]

1. Townsville deanery with regular liturgical services held in Sacred Heart Cathedral, North Ward (St Joseph's), Cranbrook (Holy Spirit), Deeragun (St Anthony), Gulliver (Holy Family), Kirwan (The Good Shepherd), Magnetic Island (St Joan of Arc), Mundingburra (Blessed Mary MacKillop), Railway Estate (St Francis), South Townsville (St Patrick), West Townsville (St Mary), and Wulguru (St Joseph the Worker)
2. Northern deanery with regular liturgical services held in Abergowrie (St Theresa), Halifax (St Peter), Ingham (St Patrick), and Palm Island (St Anne)
3. Southern deanery with regular liturgical services held in Ayr (Sacred Heart), Bowen (St Mary), Burdekin Valley (St Joseph), Cannonvale (St Martin), Collinsville (Our Lady of Lourdes), Giru (St Joseph), Home Hill (St Colman), and Proserpine (St Catherine)
4. Western deanery with regular liturgical services held in Charters Towers (St Columba), Cloncurry (St Colman), Hughenden (Sacred Heart), Julia Creek (Holy Rosary), McKinlay (Our Lady of the Way), Mount Isa (Good Shepherd), Richmond (St Brigid), and Winton (St Patrick)

Schools

Schools within the diocese include:^[3]

North Ward St Joseph’s School (primary) St Patrick's College (secondary) Hyde Park St Margaret Mary's College (secondary) Mundingburra St Joseph’s Catholic School (primary) Currajong The Marian School (primary) Annandale Southern Cross Catholic School (primary)

Cranbrook Holy Spirit School (primary) Ignatius Park College (secondary) Rasmussen Good Shepherd Catholic Community School (primary) Kirwan Ryan Catholic College (primary & secondary) Deeragun St Anthony’s Catholic College (primary & secondary) West End Edmund Rice Flexible learning Centre (secondary) Palm Island St Michael’s School (primary)

Charters Towers Columba Catholic College (primary & secondary) Ingham District Our Lady of Lourdes School, Ingham (primary) St Peter’s School, Trebonne (primary) Canossa School, Trebonne (primary) Gilroy Santa Maria College, Ingham (secondary) St Teresa’s College, Abergowrie (secondary) Burdekin River region St Francis School, Ayr (primary) St Colman’s School, Home Hill (primary) Burdekin Catholic High School, Ayr (secondary)

South St Mary’s School, Bowen (primary) St Catherine’s School, Proserpine (primary) St John Bosco School, Collinsville (primary) West St Francis School, Hughenden (primary) St Patrick’s School, Winton (primary) St Joseph’s School, Cloncurry (primary) Mount Isa St Joseph’s Catholic School (primary) St Kieran’s School (primary) Good Shepherd Catholic College (secondary)

Controversy

In 2003 it was revealed that Neville Joseph Creen, a former priest, molested young girls while he served as a priest at Mount Isa, north-west Queensland, from 1973 to 1981. In Brisbane District Court on 12 September 2003, Creen (aged 63) was sentenced to three-and-half years' jail with a 14-month minimum after admitting to 34 indecent dealing charges involving 18 girls under the age of 13. One girl was aged just 5 when Creen abused her at a youth camp and later at the home of her grandparents. Creen pleaded guilty to a further six charges on 4 November 2004 and was sentenced to an additional two years jail.^[4]

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Australia

References

1. "Diocese of Townsville". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 20 February 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
2. "Diocesean profile: Parishes". Diocese of Townsville. 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
3. "Considering a Catholic school for your child?" (PDF). Catholic Education in the Diocese of Townsville. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
4. "Prison for Townsville Diocese priest who molested 18 girls". CathNews. Australia. 15 September 2003. Retrieved 18 September 2011.

External links

• Catholic Diocese of Townsville