SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL
BROKEN HILL, NSW CATHOLIC
PAUL SCOTT
I like to include a plan of the Cathedral at this point, but I can find none available! So, in exploring Sacred Heart we shall just have to ‘follow our noses’! Fortunately, the layout is not complicated.
A brief history of the Cathedral is given below. However, if you wish to begin your tour of the Cathedral immediately, tap / click on START . You can also access intermediate points in the tour by a tap / click on the following links:
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HISTORY
[Wikipedia]
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes is a suffragan Latin Rite diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, established in 1887, initially as the Diocese of Wilcannia (this town on the Darling River was then important due to the dominance of river transport), and then changed to the current name in 1917. At this time, six parochial districts of Bathurst Diocese, including those of Parkes and Forbes, were added to its western neighbour. The diocese covers the Far West region of New South Wales in Australia. The Bishop’s office is in Forbes but his seat is in Sacred Heart Cathedral, Broken Hill.
History
In 1887, the Diocese of Wilcannia was erected by Pope Leo XIII, on territories taken from the three now-neighbouring dioceses: Armidale, Bathurst and Goulburn (later absorbed in the present Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese), making it one of the oldest dioceses in Australia.
In 1917, the area of the diocese was enlarged (at the expense of the neighbouring diocese of Bathurst) and its name changed to the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes to take account of the added parishes.
On 9 June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop Christopher Toohey due to reasons of personal health. In April 2011, Bishop Toohey released a personal statement admitting that his behaviour during the early years of his ministry with young adults in his pastoral care was ‘not consistent with that required of a good person’. Although the specific behaviours were not mentioned, the church stated that any acts were not criminal in nature. To date, Bishop Toohey is the most senior member of the church to admit to inappropriate behaviour with young adults. The Pope appointed Sydney auxiliary bishop Terence Brady as apostolic administrator from 2009 until 2011. In 2011 the Bishop Emeritus of Parramatta, Kevin Michael Manning, was appointed to succeed Brady.
Cathedral
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Broken Hill has been the cathedral of the diocese since 1905, though the bishops of Wilcannia had their residence in Broken Hill since 1889. The cathedral parish has some 5,500 parishioners, most of whom live in Broken Hill.
