We are a community of communities, drawn from many languages and cultures who—through Baptism and the Holy Spirit—are committed to knowing, loving and serving Jesus Christ in the modern world.
Led by our local bishop, Brian Mascord, we are today some 191,000 baptised Catholics in the Illawarra, Macarthur, Shoalhaven and Southern Highlands regions of NSW, Australia.
Our diocese has been blessed with a rich diversity—traditional Aboriginal custodians, old settlers and newly-arrived migrants; rural, urban and industrial environments; coastal and highland settings; established townships and some of the fastest growing suburbs in Australia. Our diocese was established in 1951 from elements of the Archdiocese of Sydney and Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn. The first parishes in the diocese—Campbelltown (1835), Appin (1837) and Wollongong (1838)—date back to the early days of European settlement.
Although our diocese has a young history, the foundations of our Church go back 2,000 years to the person of Jesus Christ. The beauty and fullness of this Tradition has been handed down to us—and some 3,000 other dioceses around the world—in an unbroken line of popes from St Peter to Pope Francis. Together, we are one in Christ, seeking to be bearers of his saving love.
OUR MISSION
The purpose of our diocese is to propose Jesus Christ by fostering a communion of vibrant parish, school, welfare and religious communities that equip the faithful to carry out the mission of Christ in the world.
OUR VISION
The vision of our diocese is that everyone will encounter the love and mercy of the Father through Jesus Christ, be accompanied by a community of believers and be equipped to share that encounter with others in the power of the Holy Spirit.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the Dharawal, Tharawal, Gundungurra and Yuin nations who have, over millennia, cared for the Country on which our Catholic parishes, schools and agencies serve.
We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and commit ourselves to the ongoing journey of just recognition and reconciliation.
May we all walk gently and thoughtfully on Country.
725,000
total population
191,000
Catholic population
27
religious congregations
5
retreat centres
50,000+
Advent and Lenten programs distributed each year
70,000+
Journey Catholic Radio listeners each week
40,000+
weekly "Mass for You at Home" TV audience
450
trained and resourced catechists
6
seminarians
diocesan map
View a map listing all the parish and station churches in the diocese.
Bishop Brian Gregory Mascord was born in Newcastle NSW on 30 January 1959—the eldest son of Ron and Margaret Mascord (nee Callinan) and older brother to John. He grew up in the parish of St Mary Immaculate Charlestown (now part of the MacKillop Parish incorporating Charlestown, Gateshead and Redhead.) Through the gift of his grandparents, Brian has a close relationship with his extended family.
“The parish is the presence of the Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration. In all its activities the parish encourages and trains its members to be evangelisers. It is a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a centre of constant missionary outreach” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 28).
Catholic education is a significant contributor to the broader evangelising mission of the Church—a mission through which the person of Jesus Christ is made known and loved. It is hoped that this missionary impulse is evident in every aspect and dimension of school life. With this missionary focus, our schools are committed to the formation of the whole person; a formation that encompasses the spiritual, intellectual, physical, social, moral, aesthetic and religious capacity of each child that enters its doors.
students in the region educated in our Catholic schools
Our social services
CatholicCare is the social services agency of the diocese. As bearers of Christ’s love, CatholicCare is an inclusive social services organisation committed to providing professional services across the lifespan to individuals, families, and communities in need throughout our diocese.
They offer compassionate, high quality community services that promote human dignity, connection, and wellbeing. Their passion is supporting people to harness their strengths, thrive in their relationships, and build positive futures.
Account means the account held at your financial institution from which we are authorised to arrange for funds to be debited.
Agreement means this Direct Debit Request Service Agreement between you and us, including the direct debit request.
Business day means a day other than a Saturday or a Sunday or a listed public holiday.
Debit day means the day that payment is due.
Debit payment means a particular transaction where a debit is made, according to your direct debit request.
Direct debit request means the Direct Debit Request between us and you.
Us and we and our means the Catholic Development Fund.
You means the customer(s) who signed the direct debit request. Your financial institution is the financial institution where you hold the account that you have authorised us to arrange to debit.
Debiting your account
By submitting a direct debit request, you have authorised us to arrange for funds to be debited from your account according to the agreement we have with you.
We will only arrange for funds to be debited from your account:
As authorised in the direct debit request; if the debit day falls on a day that is not a business day, we may direct your financial institution to debit your account on the following or previous business day. If you are unsure about which day your account has or will be debited, please check with your financial
Changes by you
If you wish to stop or defer a debit payment you must write to us at least 5 business days before the next debit day.
This notice should be given to us in the first instance.
Your obligations
It is your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient clear funds available in your account to allow a debit payment to be made.
If there are insufficient clear funds available in your account to meet a debit payment:
you or your account may be charged a fee and/or interest by your financial institution;
you or your account may be charged a fee to reimburse us for charges we have incurred for the failed transaction;
you must arrange for the payment to be made by another method
Please check your account statement to verify that the amounts debited from your account are correct.
Dispute
If you believe that there has been an error in debiting your account you should call us on 1800 047 703 and confirm the details in writing with us as soon as possible so that we can resolve your query quickly.
Accounts
You should check:
with your financial institution whether direct debiting is available from your accounts offered by financial
your account details which you have provided to us are correct by checking them against a recent account statement; and
with your financial institution before completing the direct debit request if you have any queries about how to complete the direct debit
Warning: if the account number you have quoted is incorrect, you may be charged a fee to reimburse our costs in correcting any deductions from:
an account you do not have authority to operate; or
an account you do not
Confidentiality
We will keep any information (including your account details) in your direct debit request confidential.
We will make reasonable efforts to keep any such information that we have about you secure and to ensure that any of our employees or agents who have access to information about you, do not make any unauthorised use, modification, reproduction or disclosure of that information.
However, we may use your contact details to provide information about the fund. Should you wish this not to be the case, please advise the fund in writing.
Our diocesan logo is theologically rich and very succinct. As a hand, it depicts our mission as a diocese and as individuals within the diocese, of bearing (bringing, carrying) Christ’s love to one another and to the world around us. In this, we are the hand of Jesus Christ, and we are offering ourselves to him so that he might work through us.
We can be the bearers of his love only as a response to his call and in the strength of his grace. We are reminded of this in two ways—through the symbol of the dove (the Holy Spirit) also present in the logo, and by the incorporation of the cross that segments the logo. The presence of the cross is a reminder that bearing the love of Christ will inevitably cost us if we live it authentically. However, in the way that the Cross is the portent of redemption and life—an echo of the tree of life in the book of Genesis—so becoming bearers of the love of Christ will also bring us to life.
The four fingers of the hand also represent the four regions of our diocese. The first is bluerepresenting the beautiful water of the Shoalhaven. The second is a blue and green combination representing the waters and escarpment of the Illawarra. The third is greendepicting the hills and plains of the Macarthur. The fourth is dark green illustrating the forests of the Southern Highlands.
