Victorian bishop appointed as Archbishop of Brisbane

Archbishop-elect Mackinlay will be installed as Archbishop of Brisbane at St Stephen’s Cathedral on September 11. Last year, he was elected to the Final Document Commission of the Synod of Bishops, representing Oceania in a group of 14 members responsible for overseeing the drafting of the Synod’s concluding document.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge is retiring after 13 years in the Archdiocese of Brisbane. He turned 75 in 2023, the age at which diocesan bishops are required to submit their resignations to the Pope. Archbishop Coleridge said he welcomed the appointment of Bishop Mackinlay as his successor, where he would be a distinguished addition to the line of archbishops.

“Bishop Shane has shown himself an unusually gifted man in his years as priest in Ballarat and Melbourne and as bishop in Bendigo and beyond,” Archbishop Coleridge said.

“He has a fine mind, and he will bring intellectual firepower to his ministry as archbishop and to public debate in Queensland and Australia. He will be able to dialogue intelligently with a culture which at many points is distant from Christian understandings.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB welcomed the appointment.

“The Archbishop-elect’s pastoral experience in his home diocese of Ballarat and his leadership of the diocese of Sandhurst, together with his strong academic background, will stand him in good stead as he takes up the new challenge of pastoral leadership in the Archdiocese of Brisbane,” Archbishop Costelloe said.

“So, too, will be his significant contribution to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue which has been a particular feature of his contribution to the work of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.”

Archbishop-elect Mackinlay, 60, said his is “deeply honoured by Pope Leo’s decision to appoint me as Archbishop of Brisbane – a diocese that has such a strong tradition of fostering the liturgical, spiritual, evangelising and educational endeavours of the Catholic community, both within the archdiocese and more broadly”.

Two days after Bishop Mackinlay’s appointment, the Holy See announced that Bishop Tony Ireland, currently an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, will become the new Archbishop of Hobart. He will replace the retiring Archbishop Julian Porteous.

FULL STORY

Sandhurst Bishop Shane Mackinlay chosen as the new Archbishop of Brisbane (By Matt Emerick/The Catholic Leader)

Pope Leo appoints new Archbishop of Brisbane (ACBC)

Bishop Mackinlay named to synod’s Final Document (Melbourne Catholic)

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Pope appoints new Archbishop of Hobart (ACBC)