DARWIN, DIOCESE of. — It comprises the whole of the Northern Territory, which is largely desert and is inhabited by many of the remaining aborigines throughout Australia.
It was formerly called the Diocese of Victoria or Port Victoria, erected on 27 May 1847 with territory detached from the Archdiocese of Sydney, of which it remained a suffragan until 10 May 1887, when it was declared a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Adelaide.
The first Benedictine bishop, Mgr. Salvado, never took possession of the see because the town of Victoria had been evacuated by the Europeans before his arrival on account of malaria. In 1882 the German Jesuits opened the mission for the aborigines. When Mgr. Salvado resigned, remaining at New Norcia, his vicar general, the Jesuit Fr. Steele, was appointed interim administrator of the diocese, to which on 10 Aug. 1888 the name of Palmerston was also added, after the name of the new capital. Following the withdrawal of the Jesuits, the diocese came under the administration of the Bishop of Geraldton until 1906, when Propaganda entrusted the care of the aborigines to the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. On 29 March 1938 it received its present name, and certain islands were assigned to II. Its territory covers approximately 1,000,000 sq. km. and has a population of approximately 50,000 inhabitants, of whom 1,600 are indigenous Catholics, 1,500 foreign Catholics, and 900 of mixed race. There are 5,000 Protestants and 40,000 pagans. There are 12 Australian priests, 8 brothers, and 36 sisters working in 8 districts, 4 parishes, 6 primary stations, and 4 secondary stations. In the 8 elementary schools,
700 pupils are educated. Works of charity and Catholic action are not lacking.
During the war it suffered damage as a result of the forced removal of the population.