Anglican Diocese of Carpentaria


The Anglican Diocese of Carpentaria was an Anglican diocese in northern Australia from 1900 to 1996. It included most of northern Queensland, the islands of the Torres Strait and, until 1968, all of the Northern Territory. The see was based at Quetta Cathedral on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait.
The diocese's first bishop was Gilbert White and the last was Anthony Hall-Matthews.
In 1968 a new diocese, the Diocese of the Northern Territory based in Darwin, was created out of the Diocese of Carpentaria and, in 1996, the remaining part of the Carpentaria diocese merged with the Diocese of North Queensland. As part of the merger negotiations, an assistant bishop within that diocese was elected to oversee the Torres Strait Region. However, unrest persisted and the islanders campaigned for an independent Torres Strait diocese.
In 1997, some Anglicans in the Torres Strait region of the former diocese were received into the Traditional Anglican Communion and formed themselves into the Church of Torres Strait. In 2010 they petitioned the Vatican for reception as a personal ordinariate in the Roman Catholic Church. In April 2014, this petition was granted by Pope Francis. According to the agreement, the Church of Torres Strait was to become a territory under the jurisdiction of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, but day-to-day authority would remain devolved to a regional vicar. However, with the exception of the parish on Dauan Island, the Church of Torres Strait subsequently joined the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church instead.

Bishops of Carpentaria

Kiwami Dai was the first Torres Strait Islander to become a bishop. On 1 July 1986, he was consecrated at All Souls' and St Bartholomew's Cathedral, Thursday Island, and served as an assistant bishop of Carpentaria diocese.