title: Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland
text: # Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland
  
  The Diocese of Auckland is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in New Zealand. It was one of two dioceses in the country that were established on 20 June 1848. Auckland became a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Wellington in 1887. A large area of the diocese south of Auckland was split from the diocese on 6 March 1980 to form the Diocese of Hamilton. As of 2021, almost 40 per cent of New Zealand’s 471,000 Catholics lived within the diocese of Auckland.
  
  ## Ordinaries of Auckland
  
  | Tenure | Incumbent | Life |
  | - | - | - |
  | 1836–1842 | Jean-Baptiste-François Pompallier (Vicar Apostolic of Western Oceania); see below | 1802–1871 |
  | 1842–1848 | Jean-Baptiste-François Pompallier (Vicar Apostolic of New Zealand); see above & below | 1802–1871 |
  | 1848–1869 | Jean-Baptiste-François Pompallier (1st Bishop of Auckland); see above | 1802–1871 |
  | 1870–1874 | Thomas Croke | 1824–1902 |
  | 1879–1881 | Walter Steins SJ, Archbishop (personal title) | 1800–1881 |
  | 1882–1896 | John Luck OSB | 1840–1896 |
  | 1896–1910 | George Lenihan OSB | 1858–1910 |
  | 1910–1929 | Henry Cleary | 1859–1929 |
  | 1929–1970 | James Liston, Archbishop (personal title) in 1953 | 1881–1976 |
  | 1970–1974 | Reginald John Delargey (future Cardinal) | 1914–1979 |
  | 1974–1983 | John Mackey | 1918–2014 |
  | 1983–1994 | Denis Browne | Born 1937 |
  | 1994–2021 | Patrick Dunn | Born 1950 |
  | 2021–present | Stephen Lowe | Born 1962 |
  
  Delargey was appointed Archbishop of Wellington in 1974 (Cardinal in 1976). Browne was appointed Bishop of Hamilton in New Zealand in 1994.
  
  ## Other bishops
  
  ### Auxiliary bishops
  
  * Reginald John Delargey (1914–1979) (Priest: 19 Mar 1938; Auxiliary Bishop: 25 Nov 1957; Bishop: 1 Sep 1970 to 25 Apr 1974); later Cardinal.
  * Edward Gaines (Auxiliary Bishop: 28 Oct 1976 to 6 Mar 1980), appointed Bishop of Hamilton.
  * John Hubert Macey Rodgers SM (1915–1997) Vicar Apostolic of Tonga (1953–1957), Vicar Apostolic of Tonga and Niue (1957–1966) Bishop of Tonga (1966–1973), Bishop of Rarotonga (1973–1977), Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland (1977–1985), Superior of the Mission, Funafuti, Tuvalu (1986).
  * Patrick Dunn (Priest: 24 Apr 1976; Auxiliary Bishop: 10 Jun 1994; Bishop: 19 Dec 1994 to 17 Dec 2021).
  * Michael Gielen (born 2 June 1971), Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland (2020–2022); Bishop of Christchurch (2022-present)
  
  ### Coadjutor bishop
  
  * James Michael Liston (1920–1929).
  
  ### Bishop assistant
  
  * Robin Walsh Leamy SM (1934 – 2022), Bishop Emeritus of Rarotonga, Cook Islands, (Bishop Assistant in Auckland: 1996–2009))
  
  ### Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
  
  * Matthew Joseph Brodie, appointed Bishop of Christchurch in 1915
  * Peter Thomas McKeefry, appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Wellington in 1947; Cardinal from 1969
  * Owen Noel Snedden, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Wellington in 1962
  
  ## Current bishops
  
  * Stephen Lowe, 12th Bishop of Auckland (17 December 2021 - present)
  * Patrick Dunn, Emeritus Bishop of Auckland
  * Denis Browne, Emeritus Bishop of Hamilton
  
  ## Cathedral
  
  * St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
  