BALLARAT, Diocese of. - In Australia, detached from the archdiocese of Melbourne and erected on 30 March 1847, as a suffragan of that see.

The area of the territory, included in the western part of the State of Victoria, is approx. 30,000. The total population exceeds 321,319 inhabitants, of whom ca. 277,000 are Protestants, 46,891 Catholics and ca. 200 Jews. In the 40 parishes work 94 diocesan priests, 24 religious priests, 19 brothers, 365 sisters. Schools 75 (6635 pupils); two hospitals, two orphanages and one home for the aged.

The vastness of the parishes, with a rural population of minimal density, slows down pastoral care; another obstacle comes from the growth of urbanization and from the frequency of mixed marriages; a reason for hope, on the other hand, is the increased education of the young, due especially to the activity of religious institutes.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: R. De Martinis, Ius Pont. de Prap. Fide, 6 (1926), pp. 228-30; MC, p. 28; Australasian Catholic Directory, Sydney 1948, pp. 246-55.

Giuseppe Monticone

@incollection{ec2_ballarat_diocesi_di, author = {Monticone, Giuseppe}, title = {Ballarat, diocesi di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {749}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ballarat-diocesi-di} }

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Ballarat, Diocese of

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