Pope Leo XIV has named Bishop Daniel Meagher, auxiliary bishop of Sydney, as the eleventh bishop of the Diocese of Rockhampton. Source: Catholic Weekly.
Bishop Meagher will succeed Bishop Michael McCarthy, 75, who has led the diocese for the past 12 years.
Bishop Meagher said the call from the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Balvo, came on his day off, just as he was finishing doing some gardening at his mother’s house.
“I went to my phone and noticed the Nuncio had called,” Bishop Meagher said.
“He wanted a FaceTime call. I was in my t-shirt and shorts, but I thought: ‘Oh, well, I’ll ring you back nonetheless.’ He asked me on the spot, and I accepted on the spot. I think that’s part of the commitment of a priest. We accept when we’re asked to do what we’re capable of doing.”
The move to Rockhampton will be a big change for Bishop Meagher, who admitted he had once passed through the diocese on his way further north, but never visited.
In his 30 years of priestly life, Bishop Meagher ministered in the Sydney parishes of Mount Pritchard, Mosman, Gymea, Hoxton Park, Carnes Hill, North Leichhardt, Penshurst-Peakhurst, Strathfield and Five Dock. He was Administrator of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Broken Hill from 2012-2014 and was rector of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd from 2015-2020 before being appointed as auxiliary bishop of Sydney by Pope Francis in 2021.
After more than a decade out of parish ministry, serving as rector and auxiliary bishop, Bishop Meagher said that he was looking forward to the challenge of being a parish priest again, “only not really a parish, but a diocese.”
He is also keenly aware of the responsibility he will have to care for the priests in his diocese.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP said that, while Bishop Meagher’s appointment was a great gift to the people of Rockhampton, he would be sorely missed by the priests and faithful of the Archdiocese of Sydney, and especially by the archbishop himself.
“Bishop Danny has been such a wonderful collaborator with me, and I will miss him greatly,” Archbishop Fisher said.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB welcomed the appointment.
“On behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, I warmly congratulate Bishop Meagher on his appointment as Bishop of Rockhampton,” Archbishop Costelloe said. “His wide-ranging experience in pastoral leadership, theological formation and service to the Church will be a great blessing to the people of Central Queensland.”
Bishop McCarthy said he was delighted that Bishop Meagher would be installed as Bishop of the Diocese of Rockhampton.
“I know Bishop Danny to be a man of faith and a man of integrity who has the pastoral and administrative skills to lead the people of the Diocese and our Catholic Ministries into a hope-filled and exciting future,” he said.
Bishop Meagher will be installed at St Joseph’s Cathedral, Rockhampton, at 10.30am on May 28.
FULL STORY
Pope Leo XIV appoints Bishop Daniel Meagher as bishop for Rockhampton (By Monica Doumit, The Catholic Weekly)
Pope names next Bishop of Rockhampton (ACBC)
New Bishop for the Diocese of Rockhampton Appointed by Pope Leo XIV (Diocese of Rockhampton)
