SYDNEY, ARCHDIOCESE of. – It is situated on the eastern coast of the State Australia (v.).
Following the initial development of missionary activity, on 3 June 1834 the apostolic vicariate of New Holland and Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) was erected, detached from the apostolic vicariate of the Mascarene Islands. On 5 April 1842 it was divided into the three apostolic vicariates of S., Hobart, and Adelaide. Immediately thereafter, on 12 April of the same year, the apostolic vicariate of S. was elevated to an archdiocese, with the suffragan dioceses of Adelaide and Hobart, which corresponded respectively to the three colonies then existing, namely Western Australia, South Australia, and Van Diemen’s Land, now Tasmania. On 6 May 1845 PERTHI (v.) was detached from it; on 25 June 1847 the boundaries with the diocese of Adelaide were modified; on 12 April 1859 Brisbane (v.) was detached; on 28 November 1862 the dioceses of Goulburn, WAGGA-WAGGA, DIOCESI DI (v.), Armidale (v.) were detached; on 10 May 1887 Forbes (v.) and Grafton, now Lismore, were detached. On 15 November 1951 a long coastal area was detached which, together with another area taken from the archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn, formed the new diocese of Wollongong. The archdiocese of S. is thoroughly organized. The major seminary of Manly, inaugurated in 1888, was built by Cardinal Patrizio F. Moran for the whole of Australia. It is now about to acquire a faculty of theology. The minor seminary is at Springwood and dates from 1912.
It covers an area of 29,440 sq. km., with 414,910 Catholics in a population exceeding 1,885,