New members to Bishops' Commissions
NEW MEMBERSHIP OF AUSTRALIA’S BISHOPS' COMMISSIONS
The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference has appointed new membership to each of its commissions at its plenary meeting at Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney. The bishops have elected a new chairman of each commission. Membership of the bishops’ Permanent Committee has also changed. The period of service for each of these commissions is three years, from 2015 to 2018.
Perth’s Catholic Archbishop, the Most Rev Timothy Costelloe SDB, has been appointed as Chair to the Bishops’ Commission for Catholic Education of which he been a member for the past three years. He succeeds Port Pirie’s Bishop Gregory O’Kelly SJ who becomes a regular member of the commission. Other members include Melbourne auxiliary Bishop Mark Edwards OMI and Sydney’s Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP.
Archbishop Costelloe has also stepped aside from his role as Acting Chair to become a regular member of the Bishops’ Commission for Doctrine and Morals which will now be chaired by Bishop Terence Curtin, an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne. Also on this commission are Cairns’ Bishop James Foley and Adelaide’s Archbishop Philip Wilson who is presently on leave.
Lastly, Archbishop Costelloe retains his position on the Conference’s Permanent Committee which he has been re-elected onto for a further two years. This is chaired by Melbourne’s Archbishop Denis Hart. Joining the Permanent Committee are Brisbane’s Archbishop Mark Coleridge, plus Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Bishop Gregory O’Kelly.
Auxiliary Bishop of Perth, the Most Rev Don Sproxton, continues to hold his position as Chair of the Bishops’ Commission for Health and Community Services. He is joined by regular members Bishop Robert McGuckin of Toowoomba, Bishop Christopher Saunders of Broome, and Bishop Gerard Hanna of the Diocese of Wagga Wagga. Bishop Sproxton also continues as a regular member of the Bishops’ Commission for Relations with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.
Other chairs of bishops’ commissions are as follows:
Administration and Information: Bishop Leslie Tomlinson
Canon Law: Bishop Robert McGuckin
Church Ministry: Bishop Peter Ingham
Ecumenism and Inter-religious Relations: Archbishop Christopher Prowse
Evangelisation: Archbishop Mark Coleridge
Family, Youth and Life: Archbishop Anthony Fisher
Justice, Ecology and Development: Bishop Gregory O’Kelly
Liturgy: Bishop Patrick O’Regan
Pastoral Life: Bishop Terence Brady
Relations with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders: Bishop Eugene Hurley