Diocese of Ballarat
Ballaraten(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Ballarat, Australia
The Diocese of Ballarat covers the western third of Victoria, Australia. It was erected as a see in 1874 and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, with Mark Freeman ordained and installed as its ninth bishop on 19 March 2026.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 30 March 1874
- Latin
- Ballaraten(sis)
- Annuario code
- 001000801
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 97,900
- Population
- 384,000
- Catholic share
- 25.5%
- Priests
- 50
- Catholics per priest
- 1,958
- Extent
- 58,000 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 1.7
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Bishop
- Mark Freeman
- Born
- 17 July 1949
- Birthplace
- Newcastle
- Institute
- CONGREGAZIONE DEL SANTISSIMO REDENTORE (REDENTORISTI O LIGUORINI) (C.SS.R.)
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
St Patrick's Cathedral, Ballarat stands in Ballarat, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Melbourne
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Melbourne.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of MelbourneMelbourne
- Diocese of Saints Peter and Paul of MelbourneMelbourne
- Diocese of SaleSale
- Diocese of SandhurstSandhurst
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Established in 1874 and based in Ballarat, Australia, this Roman Catholic diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Melbourne within that ecclesiastical province. Its territory takes in the west, Wimmera and Mallee regions of Victoria, and its cathedral is St Patrick's Cathedral, Ballarat. The diocese has been prominent in Australia for its number of cases of sexual abuse by clergy and members of religious orders.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].