Diocese of Cairns

Following the discovery of gold near [[Cooktown, Queensland|Cooktown]] in 1872 and the establishment and growth of sugar production during the 1870s, the Bishop of Brisbane, [[James Quinn (Australian bishop)|James Quinn]], visited Cooktown in 1874. The first church was opened a year later.{{cite journal |url=http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au//Archives/DioceseHistory/Pre1941.html |author=Dunn, Geoffrey (Rev) |title=The Journey to 1941 |publisher=Catholic Diocese of Cairns |date=17 February 2010 |journal=Diocese History |access-date=6 October 2011 |page=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911142933/http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au//Archives/DioceseHistory/Pre1941.html |archive-date=11 September 2011}} Quinn had earlier been petitioning the [[Roman Curia]] to create a [[vicariate]] in north Queensland to minister to Catholics in the region and to [[evangelise]] the [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]], with the '''Vicariate Apostolic of Queensland''' officially created on 27 January 1877 by [[Pope Pius IX]]. The Vicariate consisted of all the land in Queensland north of the line starting at Cape Hinchinbrook and then west to the border with [[South Australia]] (now [[Northern Territory]]). The Very Reverend [[Adolphus Lecaille]], then the Vicar-General in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Perth|Diocese of Perth]] in [[Western Australia]], was appointed the first Apostolic Pro-Vicar of the Queensland vicariate with Reverend Father Tarquin Tanganelli as the rector. Lecaille was to be based in [[Cooktown, Queensland|Cooktown]] while Tanganelli was to be based at the [[Hodgkinson Minerals Area]] to minister to the needs of the miners and establish churches there. Due to a breakdown in communication, the news of the new Vicariate does not appear to have reached Australia until the arrival of Tanganelli and two other Italian priests in November 1877 to serve in the Vicariate. Lecaille (who was then based in [[Geraldton]] in Western Australia) never took up his appointment in Queensland.{{cite news|date=17 November 1877|title=QUEENSLAND|volume=VI|page=6|newspaper=[[The Advocate (Melbourne)|Advocate]]|issue=463|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article170437737|access-date=4 September 2020|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=5 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905082326/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/170437737|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=3 November 1877|title=The Rev. Dr. Martinean and the Brahmo Somaj.|volume=XII|page=10|newspaper=[[The Queenslander]]|issue=116|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19762580|access-date=4 September 2020|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=5 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905082358/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19762580|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=History of the Diocese|url=http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au/documents/history.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715204812/http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au/documents/history.html|archive-date=2019-07-15|access-date=2020-09-04|website=Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns}}{{Cite web|title=History|url=https://www.cns.catholic.edu.au/about/history/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904220325/https://www.cns.catholic.edu.au/about/history/|archive-date=2020-09-04|access-date=2020-09-04|website=Catholic Education, Diocese of Cairns|language=en-US}}

Following the discovery of gold near [[Cooktown, Queensland|Cooktown]] in 1872 and the establishment and growth of sugar production during the 1870s, the Bishop of Brisbane, [[James Quinn (Australian bishop)|James Quinn]], visited Cooktown in 1874. The first church was opened a year later.{{cite journal |url=http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au//Archives/DioceseHistory/Pre1941.html |author=Dunn, Geoffrey (Rev) |title=The Journey to 1941 |publisher=Catholic Diocese of Cairns |date=17 February 2010 |journal=Diocese History |access-date=6 October 2011 |page=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911142933/http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au//Archives/DioceseHistory/Pre1941.html |archive-date=11 September 2011}} Quinn had earlier been petitioning the [[Roman Curia]] to create a [[vicariate]] in north Queensland to minister to Catholics in the region and to [[evangelise]] the [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]], with the '''Vicariate Apostolic of Queensland''' officially created on 27 January 1877 by [[Pope Pius IX]]. The Vicariate consisted of all the land in Queensland north of the line starting at Cape Hinchinbrook and then west to the border with [[South Australia]] (now [[Northern Territory]]). The Very Reverend [[Adolphus Lecaille]], then the Vicar-General in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Perth|Diocese of Perth]] in [[Western Australia]], was appointed the first Apostolic Pro-Vicar of the Queensland vicariate with Reverend Father Tarquin Tanganelli as the rector. Lecaille was to be based in [[Cooktown, Queensland|Cooktown]] while Tanganelli was to be based at the [[Hodgkinson Minerals Area]] to minister to the needs of the miners and establish churches there. Due to a breakdown in communication, the news of the new Vicariate does not appear to have reached Australia until the arrival of Tanganelli and two other Italian priests in November 1877 to serve in the Vicariate. Lecaille (who was then based in [[Geraldton]] in Western Australia) never took up his appointment in Queensland.{{cite news|date=17 November 1877|title=QUEENSLAND|volume=VI|page=6|newspaper=[[The Advocate (Melbourne)|Advocate]]|issue=463|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article170437737|access-date=4 September 2020|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=5 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905082326/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/170437737|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=3 November 1877|title=The Rev. Dr. Martinean and the Brahmo Somaj.|volume=XII|page=10|newspaper=[[The Queenslander]]|issue=116|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19762580|access-date=4 September 2020|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=5 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905082358/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19762580|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=History of the Diocese|url=http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au/documents/history.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715204812/http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au/documents/history.html|archive-date=2019-07-15|access-date=2020-09-04|website=Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns}}{{Cite web|title=History|url=https://www.cns.catholic.edu.au/about/history/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904220325/https://www.cns.catholic.edu.au/about/history/|archive-date=2020-09-04|access-date=2020-09-04|website=Catholic Education, Diocese of Cairns|language=en-US}}

An initial attempt to install Italian priests from the [[Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions|Pontifical Seminary of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul of Rome]] was a failure; mainly due to cultural and language issues with both the indigenous and predominantly Irish lay population. Quinn, from Ireland, appointed one of his fellow countryman, [[John Cani]] as the first Pro-Vicar who served up until Quinn's death in 1882 when Cani returned to Brisbane before being appointed as the first [[Roman Catholic Bishop of Rockhampton|Bishop of Rockhampton]]. A short term under [[Monsignor]] [[Paul Fortini]] followed, marked by his clash with the [[Catholic laity|laity]] in [[Herberton, Queensland|Herberton]] which he then placed under [[interdict]] in 1883; this meant that [[sacraments]] could not be celebrated in that town. Fortini was recalled to Rome.

An initial attempt to install Italian priests from the [[Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions|Pontifical Seminary of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul of Rome]] was a failure; mainly due to cultural and language issues with both the indigenous and predominantly Irish lay population. Quinn, from Ireland, appointed one of his fellow countryman, [[John Cani]] as the first Pro-Vicar who served up until Quinn's death in 1882 when Cani returned to Brisbane before being appointed as the first [[Roman Catholic Bishop of Rockhampton|Bishop of Rockhampton]]. A short term under [[Monsignor]] [[Paolo Fortini|Paul Fortini]] followed, marked by his clash with the [[Catholic laity|laity]] in [[Herberton, Queensland|Herberton]] which he then placed under [[interdict]] in 1883; this meant that [[sacraments]] could not be celebrated in that town. Fortini was recalled to Rome.

A stable period followed under the pastoral care of the [[Order of Saint Augustine|Augustinians]]. The number of parishioners grew from approximately 2,000 (in 1884) to about 4,000 (in the 1890s); and to approximately 10,000 Catholics (by 1914) spread across eight church districts with 13 priests.{{cite news|date=31 January 1914|title=CHURCH IN NORTH QUEENSLAND|volume=III|page=24|newspaper=[[The Catholic Advocate]]|issue=138|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article258136527|access-date=20 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=18 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118022133/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/258136527|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |url=http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au//Archives/DioceseHistory/Pre1941.html |author=Dunn, Geoffrey (Rev) |title=The Journey to 1941 |publisher=Catholic Diocese of Cairns |date=17 February 2010 |journal=Diocese History |access-date=6 October 2011 |page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911142933/http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au//Archives/DioceseHistory/Pre1941.html |archive-date=11 September 2011}} The growth of pastoral industries and mining in the interwar years led to the expansion of the Vicariate west across the [[Atherton Tablelands]] and the creation of an additional nine parishes; and eventual establishment as a suffragan diocese in 1941.

A stable period followed under the pastoral care of the [[Order of Saint Augustine|Augustinians]]. The number of parishioners grew from approximately 2,000 (in 1884) to about 4,000 (in the 1890s); and to approximately 10,000 Catholics (by 1914) spread across eight church districts with 13 priests.{{cite news|date=31 January 1914|title=CHURCH IN NORTH QUEENSLAND|volume=III|page=24|newspaper=[[The Catholic Advocate]]|issue=138|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article258136527|access-date=20 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia|archive-date=18 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118022133/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/258136527|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |url=http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au//Archives/DioceseHistory/Pre1941.html |author=Dunn, Geoffrey (Rev) |title=The Journey to 1941 |publisher=Catholic Diocese of Cairns |date=17 February 2010 |journal=Diocese History |access-date=6 October 2011 |page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911142933/http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au//Archives/DioceseHistory/Pre1941.html |archive-date=11 September 2011}} The growth of pastoral industries and mining in the interwar years led to the expansion of the Vicariate west across the [[Atherton Tablelands]] and the creation of an additional nine parishes; and eventual establishment as a suffragan diocese in 1941.