The Geography

The diocese of Rockhampton is one of 5 in the State of Queensland and one of the twenty eight diocese in Australia. It came into being on 29 December 1882, previously being part of the greater Brisbane Archdiocese.  In 1930, the Diocese of Townsville was formed from the Northern part of the Rockhampton diocese.

The current boundaries of the Diocese of Rockhampton are
East: The east of Queensland, between 21 and 25 S. Lat.
North: Lat. 21 as far as Long. 145, then south as far as Lat. 22, thence west along this line to the boundary of the Shire of Gregory North, thence along its boundary to Lat. 23, and thence west to Northern Territory
West: Northern Territory border
South: Lat. 25

The main industries in the region are mining and farming, and the coastal areas and nearby islands boasts many beautiful tropical beaches.  There are spectacular national parks as well as a number of carefully preserved ancient Aboriginal sites.  Further west is the great Australian Outback

The People

The Diocese covers some 414,385 square kilometres and has a total population of nearly 400,000 of which 24.6% are Catholic.  There are 81 Mass Centres clustered as 31 parishes spread throughout the diocese.

Whilst the long distances between the towns that are served by a small number of clergy means that many of the worshipping communities do not have the luxury of Mass celebrated in their community every week, there is great lay involvement.  Most of the worshipping communities celebrate the Liturgy of the Word with Communion weekly.