The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba is a Latin Rite suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, established in 1929, covering the Darling Downs and south west regions of Queensland, Australia. St Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba. The diocese covers an area of 487,000 km2. with 48 priests and 57 members of religious orders. There are 77,400 Catholics among the 276,700 total population within the diocese's borders. History In 1929, the Diocese of Toowoomba was excised from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane. Recent history Bishop Bill Morris was appointed in 1992 to head the Toowoomba diocese. In 2006 he released a pastoral letter calling for discussion of the ordination of married men and the ordination of women to compensate for the lack of priests in his large diocese. An apostolic visitation of the diocese was conducted by Charles J. Chaput OFM Cap., then Archbishop of Denver, during April 2007. Discussions continued between Morris and the Vatican for several years. On 1 May 2011, Bishop Morris announced his early retirement at age 67, stressing the fact that he had not resigned. On 2 May 2011, the Holy See removed Morris from pastoral care of the diocese, attracting international press coverage. The Holy See appointed Brian Vincent Finnigan, Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, to serve as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese. On 14 May 2012, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI had named the Reverend Monsignor Robert McGuckin as bishop-elect of the Toowoomba diocese. He was installed on 11 July. Bishops Ordinaries The following have served as Bishops of Toowoomba: {| class="wikitable" !Order !Name !Date enthroned !Reign ended !Term of office !Reason for term end |- |align="center"| || James Byrne ||align="center"| 28 May 1929 ||align="center"| 11 February 1938 ||align="right"| || Died in office |- |align="center"| || Joseph Basil Roper || align="center" | 13 July 1938 ||align="center"| 14 October 1952 ||align="right"| || Resigned and appointed Bishop Emeritus of Toowoomba |- |align="center"| || William Joseph Brennan || align="center" | 7 August 1953 ||align="center"| ||align="right"| || Died in office |- |align="center"| || || align="center" | 19 December 1975 ||align="center"|20 November 1992 ||align="right"| || Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus |- |align="center"| || William Morris ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 2 May 2011 ||align="right"| || Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus |- |align="center"| || Robert McGuckin ||align="center"| 11 July 2012 ||align="center"| present ||align="right"| || |- |} Other priest of