The Diocese of Wagga Wagga is a Latin Church suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, established in 1917, covering the Riverina region of New South Wales in Australia.
St Michael's Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Wagga Wagga. On 12 September 2016, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Gerard Hanna due to health and age concerns and appointed Christopher Prowse to be the Apostolic Administrator. On 26 May 2020 Pope Francis announced that Bishop Mark Edwards OMI would be the sixth Bishop of Wagga Wagga, to be installed as Bishop on 22 July 2020 at St Michael's Cathedral.
Vianney College is the diocesan seminary.
Bishops Bishops of Wagga Wagga The following individuals have been elected as Roman Catholic Bishop of Wagga Wagga: {| class="wikitable" !Order !Name !Date enthroned !Reign ended !Term of office !Reason for term end |- |align="center"| ||Joseph Wilfrid Dwyer ||align="center" |14 March 1918 ||align="center" |11 October 1939 ||align="right" | ||Died in office |- |align="center"| || ||align="center" |16 November 1939 ||align="center" |24 February 1968 ||align="right" | || Died in office |- |align="center"| ||Francis Patrick Carroll ||align="center" |24 February 1968 ||align="center" |25 June 1983 ||align="right" | ||Elevated to Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn |- |align="center"| ||William John Brennan ||align="center" |16 Jan 1984 ||align="center" |5 February 2002 ||align="right" | ||Resigned and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Wagga Wagga |- |align="center"| ||Gerard Joseph Hanna ||align="center" |5 February 2002 ||align="center" | ||align="right" | ||Retired due to reaching age 75 and due to ill health and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Wagga Wagga |- |align="center"|||Mark Edwards ||align="center" |22 July 2020 ||align="center"| ||align="right" | ||
Coadjutor bishop Francis Patrick Carroll (1967–1968)
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops Edward Idris Cassidy, appointed nuncio and titular Archbishop in 1970; future Cardinal Michael Robert Kennedy, appointed Bishop of Armidale in 2011
Cathedral Located in Johnston Street, Wagga Wagga, St Michael's Cathedral is a large Gothic Revival styled sandstone cathedral built in two stages. The foundation stone of the first stage of the building comprising the nave and tower base, was laid on 26 April 1885. Completed between 1885 and 1887, the parish church was commissioned by Father Patrick Dunne and designed by architects Tappin, Gilbert & Dennehy, of Melbourne. The woodwork and carpentry was completed by Charles Hardy. In 1918, when the diocese was erected, St Michael’s became a cathedral.
The second stage followed, that commenced in 1922 and completed in 1925. The architect was W. J. Monks, and the overall construction cost was £34,894. The imposing building was constructed from sandstone, of cruciform plan with clerestoried nave and lofty tower placed to the left of the main façade. In addition, the building consists of side aisles, porch, chancel, sacristy, chapel, and gallery. Roof framings are exposed timber internally and sheeted with slates externally. Walls are rock faced ashlar generally with dressed window and door surrounds and mullions. Internally the altars contain some finely crafted marble pieces and large stained glass windows in groups of three, giving a soft filtered light. A feature of the cathedral is the massive tower bell weighing cast in the factory of Byrnes, of Dublin. The marble high altar was brought from Carrara, Italy and has subsequently been removed.
Cathedral organ George Fincham built a two-manual organ of 10 speaking stops for St Michael's Church in 1887. This was removed in 1892 and installed in the Chapel of St Peter at the Church of England Grammar School, Melbourne. The present organ, installed on the rear gallery in 1999 by Laurie Pipe Organs, was built by Samuel Lewis, an employee of George Fincham, who was his first apprentice as far back as 1864 and his first foreman, it is thought for the Dorcas Street Presbyterian Church in South Melbourne; it originally had two manuals and 17 speaking stops. It was installed at the Presbyterian Church, Denbigh Road, Armidale, in 1911 and in 1939 the mechanical action was converted to tubular-pneumatic by C.W. Andrewartha, who supplied a detached console. The casework with its carved transom rails, may also date from this time. The instrument was rebuilt in 1975 by Laurie Pipe Organs who converted the manual actions back to mechanical, electrified the pedal and stop actions, provided a new attached drawstop console, and supplied new Mixtures to the Great and Swell, a Trumpet 8 ft, and the pedal upper work. In 2011 it was given a small overhaul by Darrell Pitchford. The front facade pipes were changed to silver and the stop mechanisms and pipes were cleaned and adjusted.
Parishes
Albury Albury North Albury–Lavington Albury–Thurgoona Berrigan Cathedral Coolamon Corowa Culcairn Darlington Point–Colleambally/Jerilderie Finley Ganmain Griffith Holbrook Howlong Jerilderie Junee Khancoban Leeton Lockhart Mulwala Narrandera Tarcutta The Rock Tocumwal Tumbarumba Urana Wagga Wagga South Wagga Wagga West Wagga Wagga–Kooringal
Seminary Vianney College is the diocesan seminary. It also accepts seminarians from other regional dioceses, eparchies and religious orders. In 1989, Bishop William John Brennan, announced he would found a new seminary in Wagga Wagga, believing the situation at St Patrick's Seminary, Manly had become dire, with lax discipline and orthodox seminarians often being refused entry. He also believed priests destined to minister in large and remote parishes would be better prepared within their own diocese and in a semi-rural environment. In 1992, he opened Vianney College in Wagga Wagga. By 2000, the Diocese of Wagga Wagga had more students studying for the priesthood than the Archdiocese of Sydney.
The college primarily educates students to prepare for the Catholic priesthood, although it accepts some lay students for certain courses. Its courses are recognised by Charles Sturt University and Pontifical Urban University. As well as educating students for the Diocese of Wagga Wagga, it has also educated students who have been ordained for the archdioceses of Melbourne and Sydney; the dioceses of Sandhurst, Wilcannia–Forbes, Armidale, Lismore, Port Pirie, Broken Bay and Hamilton, New Zealand; as well as for the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron of Sydney. It has also educated students for religious orders, including Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit and the Confraternity of Christ the Priest. As of 2026, it had eight students in formation for the priesthood.
Since opening, the seminary has produced 70 priests, including two bishops (Bishop Michael Kennedy and Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green OSPPE).
Schools The list below shows the schools in the diocese who are governed by Catholic Edution Diocese of Wagga Wagga (CEDWW) https://ww.catholic.edu.au/. Their attributed parish is also shown. The diocese is split into four areas and the schools are allocated based on proximity.Catholic Diocese of Wagga. Parishes - West Wagga Wagga. Retrieved 13 of March 2018.
Albury region Secondary School Xavier High School, Albury – North Albury Primary Schools St Patrick's Catholic School – Albury St Anne's Catholic School – North Albury St Mary's Catholic School – Corowa
Griffith region Secondary Schools Marian Catholic College – Griffith St Francis de Sales Regional College – Leeton Primary Schools St Patrick's Primary School – Griffith St Joseph's Primary School – Leeton St Mary's Primary School - Yoogali
Wagga Wagga region Secondary Schools Kildare Catholic College – Our Lady of Fatima, South Wagga Wagga Mater Dei Catholic College – Sacred Heart, Kooringal
Primary Schools All Saints Catholic Primary School – Tumbarumba Henscke Catholic Primary School – Our Lady of Fatima, South Wagga WaggaOur Lady of Fatima Parish, South Wagga. Retrieved 13 of March 2018. Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School – West Wagga Wagga Mater Dei Catholic Primary School – Sacred Heart, Kooringal Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School – Sacred Heart, Kooringal Saint Joseph's Catholic Primary School – Cathedral, Central Wagga Wagga Saint Joseph's Catholic Primary School – Junee Saint Michael's Catholic Primary School – Coolamon Saint Brendan’s Catholic Primary School – Ganmain Saint Joseph’s Catholic Primary School – Lockhart
See also
Roman Catholicism in Australia
References
External links
Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga