Archdiocese of Hobart

The Archdiocese of Hobart is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia located in Hobart and covering Tasmania, Australia.
Immediately subject to the Holy See, the area covered was initially administered by the Apostolic Vicariate of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land. In 1842, the Vicariate Apostolic of Hobart was erected; elevated as a diocese a few weeks later; and as an archdiocese in 1888.
St Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Hobart, currently Anthony Ireland, installed on the 12th of August, 2025.

WWW hobart.catholic.org.au FB ArchdioceseofHobart

History

Established 5 April 1842 as the Vicariate Apostolic of Hobart and became Diocese of Hobart on 22 April 1842.
On 3 August 1888 as the Archdiocese of Hobart.

Bishops

The following individuals have been appointed as Bishops of Hobart or any of its precursor titles:

Order	Name	Title	Date enthroned	Reign ended	Term of office	Reason for term end
1	Robert Willson †	Bishop of Hobart	22 April 1842	16 February 1866		Resigned and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Hobart
2	Daniel Murphy †	Coadjutor Bishop of Hobart	14 November 1865	8 March 1866		Succeeded as Bishop of Hobart
2	Daniel Murphy †	Bishop of Hobart	8 March 1866	3 August 1888		Elevated as Archbishop of Hobart
2	Daniel Murphy †	Archbishop of Hobart	3 August 1888			Died in office
3	Patrick Delany †	Coadjutor Archbishop of Hobart	15 June 1893			Succeeded as Archbishop of Hobart
3	Patrick Delany †	Archbishop of Hobart		7 May 1926		Died in office
4	William Barry †	Coadjutor Archbishop of Hobart	7 April 1919	8 May 1926		Succeeded as Archbishop of Hobart
4	William Barry †	Archbishop of Hobart	8 May 1926	13 June 1929		Died in office
5	William Hayden †	Archbishop of Hobart	11 February 1930	2 October 1936		Died in office
6	Justin Simonds †	Archbishop of Hobart	18 February 1937	6 September 1942		Appointed as Coadjutor Archbishop of Melbourne
7		Archbishop of Hobart	7 December 1942			Resigned and appointed Archbishop Emeritus of Hobart
8	Guilford Clyde Young †		10 October 1954	20 September 1955		Succeeded as Archbishop of Hobart
8	Guilford Clyde Young †	Archbishop of Hobart		16 March 1988		Died in office
9	Eric D'Arcy †	Archbishop of Hobart	24 October 1988	26 July 1999		Retired and appointed Archbishop Emeritus of Hobart
10	Adrian Leo Doyle	Coadjutor Archbishop of Hobart	10 November 1997	26 July 1999		Succeeded as Archbishop of Hobart
10	Adrian Leo Doyle	Archbishop of Hobart	26 July 1999	19 July 2013		Retired and appointed Archbishop Emeritus of Hobart
11	Julian Porteous	Archbishop of Hobart	17 September 2013	12 August 2025		Resigned and appointed Archbishop Emeritus of Hobart
12	Anthony Ireland	Archbishop of Hobart	12 August 2025	present		Incumbent

The above table also includes coadjutors, all of whom later served in this see. There was another coadjutor, with appointment not taking effect: Thomas Butler †, appointed Coadjutor Bishop on 13 Mar 1860.

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Anthony Joseph Burgess †, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Wewak, Papua New Guinea in 2000
Geoffrey Hylton Jarrett, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Lismore in 2000

Cathedral

St Mary's Cathedral, Hobart is the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hobart.

Monasteries

Notre Dame Priory is a Benedictine monastery in Colebrook, Tasmania, Australia, founded in 2017 which is part of the Archdiocese.

Controversy

In 2007 Gregory Ferguson, a Marist priest, was sentenced to two years jail for offences in 1971 against two boys aged 13 at Marist College, Burnie, Tasmania. On 13 December 2007 he was sentenced to an additional three years' jail for offences against a third boy.
While in 2008, a jury found former priest Roger Michael Bellemore guilty on three counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person under the age of 17 years in the 1960s and 1970s, while he was at the same College.
In 2015, Archbishop Julian Porteous was notified that a complaint had been filed with the office of Tasmania's Anti-discrimination Commissioner in relation to the distribution in all Tasmanian Catholic schools of a booklet, Don't Mess with Marriage, stating marriage should be a "heterosexual union between a man and a woman" and changing the law would endanger a child's upbringing. The complaint was filed by a transgender activist and Federal Greens candidate Martine Delaney. The complaint was called "'an attempt to silence' the Church over same-sex marriage" by Archbishop Porteous. The complaint was treated as a possible breach of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1998, and sparked fierce debate on the issues of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and tolerance. The complaint was ultimately withdrawn.
It has been reported that, "The real problem with the Porteous case was that it was unresolved".