Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sandhurst Bishop Shane Mackinlay to succeed Archbishop Mark Coleridge as the Archbishop of Brisbane. Source: ACBC.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, welcomed the appointment, which was announced by the Vatican last night.
“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 Costelloe said Bishop Mackinlay had played a significant role as vice president of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia and a delegate to the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
Bishop Mackinlay said he was “deeply honoured” by Pope Leo’s decision to appoint him as Archbishop of Brisbane.
He said Brisbane is “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”.
Bishop Mackinlay was born in Melbourne in 1965, grew up in Ballarat and studied for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College, Clayton. He was ordained as a priest for the Ballarat Diocese in 1991.
He then undertook graduate studies in philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, where he completed a Master’s degree and a Doctorate.
Bishop Mackinlay served in parish ministry as well as teaching at Australian Catholic University, Ballarat, and Catholic Theological College, Melbourne, where he was appointed Master in 2011.
The following year he was appointed Associate Professor by the University of Divinity.
Pope Francis appointed Bishop Mackinlay as the eighth Bishop of Sandhurst in July 2019.
Archbishop Coleridge is retiring after 13 years in the Archdiocese of Brisbane and over 51 years as a priest.
He said Bishop Mackinlay was an “experienced pastor who knows how to listen”.
“I have no doubt he will bring exceptional gifts and fresh energies to the Archdiocese of Brisbane, where he will be creative in pursuing the path of synodality into the future God is preparing,” Archbishop Coleridge said.
FULL STORY
Pope names new Archbishop of Brisbane (ACBC)
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The Appointment to Brisbane of Bishop Shane Mackinlay (Brisbane Diocese)
Bishop Shane Mackinlay appointed Archbishop of Brisbane (Sandhurst Diocese)
