for namesakes, see Diocese of Bathurst The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst (in Australia) is a Latin Church suffragan diocese of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sydney, established in 1865, covering the Central West and Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia. The Cathedral of St Michael and St John the Baptist is the episcopal see of the Bishop of Bathurst, presently Michael McKenna. History The Diocese of Bathurst was erected by Pope Pius IX on 20 June 1865. Prior to this date, the area was considered within the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Sydney, its present Metropolitan. According to Roman Catholic Church records, the first Mass to be celebrated near Bathurst, was by Father Therry in early November 1830, when he was called from Sydney to attend the execution of a convict. In July 1838, the Reverend Fathers Michael O'Reilly and Thomas Slattery arrived from Ireland and were appointed to Bathurst, now established as a new church district and covered an area of 26 stations from Mt Victoria, Mudgee, Bathurst, through to Wellington and Dubbo. In June 1841, Dean O'Reilly visited Wellington and Dubbo, the first recorded visit of a priest to these districts. The area of the Bathurst mission was broken down in size as new mission centres opened. Hartley/Lithgow was already recognised as a mission centre as far back as 1842; Carcoar (1847), Sofala (1851), Mudgee (1852), Wellington (1856) and Orange (1864). With a Catholic population of 535, towards the end of 1839 work was commenced on the parish church situated on the corner of George and Keppel Streets – St. Michael's. The Parish of Bathurst was created in 1839 and St. Michael's was opened for worship in the middle of 1841, though its building was not completed for a further two years. After about 10 years, subsidence made it unfit for public worship. By 1853, Catholic schools in Bathurst had a roll call of 90 boys and 130 girls. Arriving that year, Dean Grant was to devote eight years of his life to the building and development of the Catholic Church in the Bathurst district and it was his responsibility to raise the funds needed for the proposed new cathedral. Work was also begun on new churches in Peel and O'Connell at this time. 1865 saw Bathurst become a separate Diocese with the appointment of Dr Matthew Quinn was the first Bishop. The area covered by the