Archdiocese of Melbourne
Melburnen(sis)
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Melbourne, Australia
The Archdiocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan see for the ecclesiastical province of Melbourne, with suffragan dioceses of Ballarat, Sale, and Sandhurst. Erected in 1847 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1874, it is led by Archbishop Peter Comensoli, appointed in 2018.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 25 June 1847
- Latin
- Melburnen(sis)
- Patron
- Saint Patrick
- Annuario code
- 001002213
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 1,264,150
- Population
- 4,810,000
- Catholic share
- 26.3%
- Priests
- 511
- Catholics per priest
- 2,474
- Extent
- 27,194 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 46
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
- Archbishop
- Peter A. Comensoli
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, Melbourne stands in Melbourne, 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
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of BallaratBallarat
- 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
First erected in 1847 as the Diocese of Melbourne, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Sydney, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne was raised in 1874 to a metropolitan archdiocese in Victoria, Australia. As head of the Ecclesiastical Province of Melbourne it is the metropolitan see for the suffragan dioceses of Sale, Sandhurst and Ballarat, together with the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Ss Peter and Paul.
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].