Roman Catholic Diocese of Lismore

For the Irish diocese, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore.

Diocese of Lismore Dioecesis Lismorensis
Location
Country	Australia
Territory	North Coast, New South Wales
Metropolitan	Lismore
Coordinates
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 441,734 105,609 ( 23.9%)
Parishes	28
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	5 May 1887 as the Diocese of Grafton and renamed 13 June 1900
Cathedral	St. Carthages Cathedral, Lismore
Patron saint	St. Carthage
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Geoffrey Hylton Jarrett
Metropolitan Archbishop	Anthony Fisher OP
Emeritus Bishops	John Steven Satterthwaite
Map
Map of the Diocese of Lismore Map of the Diocese of Lismore
Website
Diocese of Lismore

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lismore is a suffragan Latin Rite diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, established in 1887, initially as the Diocese of Grafton, and then changed to the current name in 1900. The diocese cover the North Coast region of New South Wales in Australia.

Ordinaries

Bishop of Grafton

The following individual has been elected as Roman Catholic Bishop of Grafton:

Order	Name	Date installed	Term ended	Term of office	Reason for term end
1	Jeremiah Joseph Doyle	13 May 1887	4 June 1909		Died in office

Bishops of Lismore

The following individuals have been elected as Roman Catholic Bishop of Lismore:

Order	Name	Date installed	Term ended	Term of office	Reason for term end
1	John Carroll	2 December 1909	8 May 1949		Died in office
2	Patrick Joseph Farrelly	8 May 1949	1 September 1971		Retired and was appointed Bishop Emeritus of Lismore
3	John Steven Satterthwaite	1 September 1971	1 December 2011		Retired and was appointed Bishop Emeritus of Lismore
4	Geoffrey Hylton Jarrett	1 December 2001	present		n/a

Cathedral

The Cathedral of St Carthage's was commissioned by Bishop Jeremiah Doyle, circa 1890. Designed in 1892 by Herbert Wardell (the son of notable Anglo – Australian architect and civil engineer William Wardell), the cathedral is modelled in gothic revival style. The foundation stone was laid in 1892 and construction began in early 1904, with the sanctuary, transepts and nave completed by mid-1907 when the first liturgical mass was held. A public appeal was held to raise £2,000 for the peal of twelve bells from Dublin, that were installed in the bell tower by 1911. A large pipe organ completed the project and in 1919, with all debts dissolved, St Carthage's Cathedral received its solemn dedication by the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Cattaneo.

In 2007 the cathedral was seriously damaged by hail storms in the region. An appeal to restore the cathedral commenced in 2007, with initial plans to construct the spire initially designed by Wardell. However, when commissioning the works in 2009, the main focus of the project was on roof slates, stained glass windows, and lead downpipes; with completion of the stone steeple ruled out.

Other information

The Catholic Education Office which is responsible for 46 co-educational schools in the Diocese, is located in Lismore. The Aboriginal Catholic Ministry is located in Macksville. The Diocese also offers a number of health and aged care services ranging from child care to nursing homes to natural family planning services.

The Diocese also has a community of Marist Brothers, another of Presentation Sisters and a convent of Carmelite Nuns.

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Australia

External links

• Catholic Diocese of Lismore
• Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Lismore