Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville explained

Jurisdiction:	Diocese
Townsville
Latin:	Dioecesis Tovnsvillensis
Country:	Australia
Territory:	North Queensland
Province:	Brisbane
Coordinates:	-19.2589°N 146.8117°W
Area Km2:	435,200
Population:	252,289
Population As Of:	2004
Catholics:	74,084
Catholics Percent:	29.4%
Parishes:	27
Denomination:	Catholic Church
Sui Iuris Church:	Latin Church
Rite:	Roman Rite
Established:	12 February 1930
Cathedral:	Sacred Heart Cathedral, Townsville
Bishop:	Tim Harris
Bishop Title:	Bishop
Map:	Bistum Townsville.svg
Website:	Catholic Diocese of Townsville

The Diocese of Townsville is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in Australia. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Brisbane. Erected in 1930, the Diocese of Townsville covers North Queensland. It was assembled from territory separated from the Diocese of Rockhampton.

Bishops

The following men have been Bishops of Townsville:^[1]

Order	Name	Date enthroned	Reign ended	Term of office	Reason for term end
	Terence Bernard McGuire †	12 February 1930	14 June 1938		Appointed Bishop of Goulburn
	Hugh Edward Ryan †	13 July 1938	14 September 1967		Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Townsville
	Leonard Anthony Faulkner †	14 September 1967	2 September 1983		Elevated as Coadjutor Archbishop of Adelaide
	Raymond Conway Benjamin †	14 February 1984	18 April 2000		Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Townsville
	Michael Ernest Putney †	24 January 2001	28 March 2014		Died in office
		3 May 2017^[2]	incumbent

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

• Francis Roberts Rush †, appointed Bishop of Rockhampton in 1960

Parishes

The diocese is divided into four separate deaneries that administer individual parishes:^[3]

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

The Townsville Catholic Education Office operates a number of schools in the diocese:

Townsville Schools

Annandale

• Southern Cross Catholic College (primary & secondary)

Burdell

• St Clare's Catholic School (primary)

Cranbrook

• Holy Spirit Catholic School (primary)

Currajong

• Marian Catholic School (primary)

Deeragun

• St Anthony's Catholic College (primary & secondary)

Hyde Park

• St Margaret Mary's College (secondary)

Kirwan

• Ryan Catholic College (primary & secondary)

Mundingburra

• St Joseph's Catholic School (primary)

North Ward

• St Joseph's Catholic School (primary)

Rasmussen

• Good Shepherd Catholic School (primary)

Shaw

• St Benedict's Catholic School (primary)
• Mary Help of Christians Catholic College (secondary)

Palm Island

• St Michael's Catholic School (primary)

Southern Schools

Ayr

• St Francis Catholic School (primary)
• Burdekin Catholic High School (secondary)

Bowen

• St Mary's Catholic School (primary)

Collinsville

• St John Bosco Catholic School (primary)

Home Hill

• St Colman's Catholic School (primary)

• St Catherine's Catholic College (primary & Secondary)

Northern Schools

Abergowrie

• St Teresa's College (secondary)

Halifax

• St Peter's Catholic School, Halifax (primary)

Ingham

• Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, Ingham (primary)
• Gilroy Santa Maria College, Ingham (secondary)

Western Schools

Charters Towers

• Columba Catholic College (primary & secondary)

• St Joseph's Catholic School, (primary - Year 9)

• St Francis Catholic School, (primary)

Mount Isa

• St Joseph's Catholic School (primary)
• St Kieran's Catholic School (primary)
• Good Shepherd Catholic College (secondary)

• St Patrick's Catholic School, (primary)

See also

• Catholic Church in Australia

External links

• Catholic Diocese of Townsville

Notes and References

1. Web site: Diocese of Townsville . The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church . 20 February 2011 . 6 October 2011 .
2. Web site: 2017-03-09. Bishop-elect Tim Harris farewelled from his Gold Coast parish. 2020-09-05. The Catholic Leader.
3. Web site: Diocesean profile: Parishes . Diocese of Townsville . 2009 . 9 October 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111120062927/http://www.tsv.catholic.org.au/parishes/index.php . 20 November 2011.