Corpus Christi College is the regional

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

(and theologate) of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

dioceses in Victoria and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The seminary was founded by Daniel Mannix on 25 December 1922, at the Werribee Park Mansion (then the Chirnside Mansion) in . The seminary is administered by a board of episcopal trustees comprising the archbishops of Melbourne and Hobart, the bishops of Ballarat, Sandhurst and Sale, and the auxiliary bishops of Melbourne. The Archbishop of Melbourne is the permanent chair of the trustees.

Educational scope

Corpus Christi College trains

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

for the archdioceses of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

and the dioceses of

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

, Sandhurst and Sale, as well as the Archdiocese of Adelaide, the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn, the Diocese of Bathurst, the Military Ordinariate of Australia, and the Archdiocese of Hanoi and the Diocese of Vinh in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The college attracts male seminarians from Vietnam, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. The college is located at St George's Church in Carlton, near St Patrick's Cathedral and in proximity to

Catholic Theological College Catholic Theological College (CTC) is one of the constituent theological colleges of the University of Divinity, an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in Divinity (academic discipline), divinity. The college is located in Eas ...

, the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamation ...

campuses. St George's Church was built in 1855 and, after extensive use as a school, the church now serves as the seminary

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

Notable alumni

* Mark Coleridge, an archbishop * Arthur Fox, a former bishop * Denis Hart, a former archbishop *

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

George Pell , a former archbishop who served as College Rector in the 1980s * Gerald Ridsdale, a defrocked priest subsequently convicted of charges relating to child sexual abuse

Former colleges

* Corpus Christi, Werribee (built 1923, sold 1973) * Corpus Christi, Glen Waverley (built 1959, sold 1972), now the Victoria Police Academy (and for years known to former seminarians as " Coppers Christi") * Corpus Christi, Clayton (occupied 1973-1999)

Gallery

Werribeepark.jpg, Werribee Park mansion with former Corpus Christi extensions to right. Victoria Police Chapel.jpg, Former Glen Waverley chapel of Corpus Christi College, now the Victoria Police Academy.

References

External links