The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

metropolitan archdiocese A metropolis, metropolitanate or metropolitan diocese is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. Eastern Ortho ...

of the Catholic Church in Australia located in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Cathedral

St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide is the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide.

History

On 5 April 1842 the

Apostolic Vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

of Adelaide was erected, on territory split from the Apostolic Vicariate of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land (the later primatial Archdiocese of Sydney), both missionary pre-diocesan jurisdictions. It was promoted as the Diocese of Adelaide two weeks later on 22 April 1842, just six years after the first fleet arrived to Glenelg. In 1845 it lost territory to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of King George Sounde - The Sound, which it recuperated in 1847 at the vicariate's suppression. On 10 May 1887 it was promoted as the Archdiocese of Adelaide, while losing territory to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Augusta. It had a papal visit from

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in November 1986. On 19 March 2020, Patrick O'Regan was announced by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

to be the 12th Archbishop of Adelaide.

Province

The Roman Catholic

Ecclesiastical Province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of Adelaide comprises the metropolitan's own archdiocese and these

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

s: * Roman Catholic Diocese of Darwin * Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Pirie

Bishops

Ordinaries

The following individuals have been elected as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, or any of its precursor titles: * Francis Murphy,

Apostolic vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

(5 April 1842 - 1843) : Note: On 3 June 2018 Pope Francis named Bishop Gregory O’Kelly, S.J. of Port Pirie as Apostolic Administrator of Adelaide. This occurred after Archbishop Philip Wilson was initially found guilty of concealing child-abuse on 22 May 2018 and did not resign. Pope Francis eventually accepted his letter of resignation on 30 July 2018. Wilson's conviction was later overturned on appeal, but he did not return to the role. Coadjutors are included in the above table.

Auxiliary bishops

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Charles Victor Emmanuel Gauci, appointed Bishop of Darwin in 2018

Sexual abuse cases

Father Albert Davis (died 2007), a member of the Dominican Fathers, was charged in 2006 with 17 incidents of indecent assault involving seven boys at Blackfriars Priory School from 1956 to 1960. Davis was committed to stand trial in the Adelaide District Court, but he died before proceedings were commenced. In September 2011,

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Nick Xenophon Nick Xenophon ( Nicholas Xenophou; ; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who was a Australian Senate, Senator for South Australia from 2008 until 2017. As a centrist, populist, independent politician, he twice sh ...

used parliamentary privilege to name an Adelaide priest as the alleged perpetrator of sexual assaults on John Hepworth about 50 years earlier. Senator Xenophon alleged that the Vicar-General of Adelaide, Monsignor David Cappo, had been provided with detailed allegations in 2008 but had failed to act upon them, the investigations still being "at a preliminary stage" and the priest concerned not being stood down during the investigation. An independent inquiry by Michael Abbott QC reported that there was no substance to the allegations, although Hepworth had declined to be interviewed for the inquiry.

References

External links

Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide

*

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Religious organizations established in 1843 Adelaide, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of 1843 establishments in Australia

Organisations based in Adelaide