| Jurisdiction: | Diocese |
| Armidale | |
| Latin: | Dioecesis Armidalensis |
| Country: | Australia |
| Territory: | New England and Barwon River regions of New South Wales |
| Province: | Sydney |
| Coordinates: | -30.5161°N 151.6639°W |
| Area Km2: | 91,500 |
| Population: | 146,769 |
| Population As Of: | 2006 |
| Catholics: | 43,223 |
| Catholics Percent: | 29.4 |
| Parishes: | 25 |
| Denomination: | Catholic Church |
| Sui Iuris Church: | Latin Church |
| Rite: | Roman Rite |
| Established: | 28 November 1869 |
| Cathedral: | Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral |
| Bishop: | sede vacante |
| Bishop Title: | Bishop |
| Website: | armidale.catholic.org.au |
The Diocese of Armidale 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 Sydney. The Diocese of Armidale was established in 1869 and covers the New England and Barwon River regions of New South Wales.
Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral is the cathedra of the Bishop of Armidale, presently vacant after Michael Kennedy was appointed to the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.[1] [2] The Administrator is Monsignor Edward (Ted) Wilkes and the administrator sat with the other Australian Bishops while attending the parramatta funeral of former Bishop Kevin Manning in 2024.
Erected 28 November 1869. Promptly following the philanthropic acquisition and dedication of land on the western side of central park Armidale, the foundation stone of the first of two brick cathedrals was laid and blessed on 8 December 1870, by the Administrator Monsignor John Thomas Lynch, an alumnus of St Patrick's Maynooth Ireland, on the same day that St Joseph was named as the patron of the Universal Church.[3] The first bishop, Most Reverend Timothy O'Mahony D.D, an alumnus of The Irish College in Rome and a director of the missionary movement of Propaganda Fide for Ireland, was forced to resign over politically motivated false allegations of alcoholism and fathering a child, although he was eventually cleared by a church investigation and subsequent events.[4] A sesquicentenary celebration of Bishop O'Mahony's installation at Armidale, by Archbishop Polding, an English Benedictine, was celebrated on 9.3.2021 and led by Archbishop Fisher and Bishop Kennedy.[5] A large white 2021 dated memorial stone has since been installed on the south side of the cathedral front doors-complementing that on the north side of the cathedral pyrmont sandstone front doors that commemorates another significant event being the blessing of the current cathedral by Cardinal Moran.
| Order | Name | Title | Date installed | Term ended | Term of office | Reason for term end | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Armidale | 1869 | July 1877 | years | Resigned from Rome | |||
| Bishop of Armidale | November 1879 | January 1904 | years | Died in office | |||
| Coadjutor Bishop of Armidale | May 1903 | January 1904 | year | Succeeded as Bishop of Armidale | |||
| Bishop of Armidale | January 1904 | July 1932 | years | Died in office | |||
| Coadjutor Bishop of Armidale | September 1929 | July 1932 | years | Succeeded as Bishop of Armidale | |||
| Bishop of Armidale | July 1932 | December 1947 | years | Died in office | |||
| Bishop of Armidale | Died in office | ||||||
| Bishop of Armidale | December 1968 | 1971 | years | ||||
| Bishop of Armidale | February 1972 | years | Retired | ||||
| Bishop of Armidale | |||||||
| Bishop of Armidale | March 1999 | December 2011 | years | Retired as Emeritus Bishop of Armidale | |||
| Bishop of Armidale | February 2012 | February 2023 | years | Appointed to Maitland–Newcastle. |
James Darcy Freeman was elevated to Cardinal in 1973, concurrent with Archbishop of Sydney.
Coadjutors are included above.
See main article: Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral. The diocesan cathedral is dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Joseph and is located in Dangar Street, Armidale, opposite Armidale Central Park and diagonally opposite the Anglican cathedral. It was built in 1911 of Pyrmont stone and Armidale polychrome brick.[8] It was solemnly dedicated on 12 December 1919.
, there are currently 25 parishes located in Diocese of Armidale: