Catholic Intelligence

Archdiocese of Hobart

Hobarten(sis)

The Archdiocese of Hobart covers the Australian state of Tasmania. It was erected in 1842 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1888, and is a metropolitan see immediately subject to the Holy See. Archbishop Anthony Ireland was installed in August 2025.

The see

Rank
Archdiocese immediately subject to the Holy See
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
1842
Latin
Hobarten(sis)
Patron
Saint Patrick
Annuario code
001001598

The see in figures

Catholics
92,680
Population
541,760
Catholic share
17.1%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
48
Catholics per priest
1,931
Extent
67,914 km²
Catholics per km²
1.4

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

Archbishop
Anthony Ireland

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 Mary's Cathedral, Hobart stands in Hobart, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

Its co-cathedral is Church of the Apostles, Launceston.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Hobart (immediately subject to the Holy See)

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Covering the whole of Tasmania from its seat in Hobart, the Archdiocese of Hobart is a Latin Church territory immediately subject to the Holy See. The area was first administered by the Apostolic Vicariate of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land. A Vicariate Apostolic of Hobart was erected in 1842, raised to a diocese only weeks later, and made an archdiocese in 1888. The archbishop, currently Anthony Ireland, installed on the 12th of August, 2025, has his seat at St Mary's Cathedral.

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.

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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].