POPE Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Mark Coleridge as the new Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn.
Bishop Coleridge, 57, is currently an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne.
He succeeds Archbishop Francis Carroll, who is retiring, having reached the age of 75.
Bishop Coleridge said he was deeply honoured at his appointment.
“I am honoured and humbled to follow Archbishop Carroll in a diocese with a history as rich and varied as its landscape,” Bishop Coleridge said.
Archbishop Carroll welcomed the naming of his successor.
“I am delighted to welcome Bishop Mark Coleridge as my successor as Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn,” he said.
Bishop Coleridge was ordained a priest in 1974 at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne.
He is a distinguished Scripture scholar, having studied in Rome and earned a doctorate in Sacred Scripture.
