BISHOP Anthony Fisher, a Dominican, is the new Archbishop of Sydney.
Pope Francis announced the appointment on September 18.
The Bishop of Parramatta becomes the ninth Archbishop of Sydney.
His appointment follows the transfer of Cardinal George Pell, former Archbishop of Sydney, to the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy.
In a statement released from Parramatta diocese, Bishop Fisher said he was deeply honoured by the appointment and by Pope Francis’ expression of confidence in him.
“I ask all Catholics and other people of good will to pray for me that I might be a good shepherd after the heart of Jesus Christ,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, its president Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne welcomed the announcement.
“For my brother bishops I congratulate Bishop Fisher on his appointment to Sydney,” he said.
“He will use his many gifts with generosity and faithfulness to serve God and to lead his people in Sydney archdiocese and beyond. I assure him of our prayers for his ministry.”
Bishop Peter Comensoli, who has been apostolic administrator of Sydney archdiocese in the lead-up to this appointment, said the archdiocese was delighted that the Pope had appointed Bishop Fisher.
“It will be the case of ‘welcoming back’ Archbishop Anthony who knows Sydney well,” Bishop Comensoli said.
“He grew up and studied here and lived and worked in Sydney until he entered the Dominicans in 1985.”
He returned to Sydney in 2003 as an auxiliary bishop and was co-ordinator of Sydney World Youth Day in 2008.
He has been Bishop of Parramatta since 2010.
“Archbishop Anthony brings with him a deep knowledge of (Sydney) archdiocese and is well-known to our priests, people, parishes and agencies,” Bishop Comensoli said.
“Archbishop Fisher has a great breadth and depth of experience beyond Sydney, having engaged extensively in key areas of Australian life, including family, education, health care and young people.
“He combines this significant contribution to the wider community with his fine pastoral leadership of the Diocese of Parramatta over the past four years. He will be a ‘good shepherd’, a bishop devoted to the people and communities which have been entrusted to him, who will lead the Church in Sydney into a new evangelical and missionary era.
“I look forward to Archbishop Fisher’s installation at St Mary’s Cathedral on a date to be decided.”
Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said that, after a long wait, a successor to Cardinal Pell in Sydney had been appointed, “and that’s good news”.
“It’s especially good news that Bishop Anthony Fisher has been chosen,” Archbishop Coleridge said. “He’s a local boy which means he’ll be able to engage the culture of the place effectively: it’s part of him and he’s part of it.
“He’ll also bring to the job many gifts which will enable him to build on the legacy of Cardinal Pell. He’s also young (in episcopal terms) and that means he’ll have the high energy that Sydney will require. Every blessing on Bishop Anthony as he looks to the future.”
Bishop Fisher studied history and law at the University of Sydney and practised in a city law firm before entering the Dominican order.
He was ordained a priest in 1991 and after completing a doctorate in bioethics at Oxford, returned to teach at the Australian Catholic University. He later founded the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne.
“Growing up in the south-west and then the north of Sydney, working as a bishop in the east and then the west, I feel a deep affinity for every part of this wonderful city and a deep concern for its people,” Bishop Fisher said.
“I’m very excited to be returning to the Archdiocese of Sydney and building on the strong foundations left by my predecessor Cardinal George Pell. Sydney is a vibrant, growing city with so much potential to be one of the greatest cities – and faith communities – of the world.”
The Archbishop-elect said the Catholic Church in Australia had made an enormous contribution to nation-building through parishes, education, health care, welfare, aged care and more.
“But it has more to do to renew our social capital and ensure that our country fulfils its potential to be a just and compassionate society,” he said.
“The Catholic Church in Australia is going through a period of public scrutiny and self-examination. I hope it will emerge from this purified, humbler, more compassionate and spiritually regenerated.
“Victims of abuse and all young people must come first – no excuses, no cover-ups. The Church must do better in this area and I am committed to playing a leading role in regaining the confidence of the community and of our own members.”
The Archbishop-elect said he was enormously enriched by his time as the Bishop of Parramatta and by the people of western Sydney.
“I know it will be hard to leave the Diocese of Parramatta and I thank the priests and people of the diocese for the wonderful years I had with them.”
Bishop Anthony will remain the Bishop of Parramatta until his installation as the Archbishop of Sydney on a date to be fixed.
