NZ-born bishop returns to public ministry in Sydney

By CathNews New Zealand

September 26th, 2025

A New Zealand-born bishop has returned to public ministry in Sydney after an investigation concluded an abuse allegation against him was “not sustained”. Source: The Pillar.

Bishop Richard Umbers, an auxiliary bishop in Sydney, had withdrawn from public ministry in early July as an independent third-party investigation began into a civil claim of past abuse. Bishop Umbers denied the allegation “emphatically”.

The independent investigation reportedly returned a finding that the allegation made was “not sustained”. Information given by the complainant was found to be inconsistent with other evidence obtained and, therefore, the investigator could not be satisfied that the alleged conduct occurred, The Pillar reports.

Bishop Umbers, a member of Opus Dei, was born in Auckland in 1971.

Before ordination as a priest, he worked as a policy analyst at Waitakere City Council, having graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Management from the University of Waikato.

FULL STORY

Umbers returns to ministry, abuse claim ‘not sustained’ (The Pillar)

Bishop Richard Umbers’ Biography (Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney)