Bishops

+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
5 Jul 2009

Bishops are an essential part of the Catholic Church and the Australian scene, although many people would not be entirely sure what a bishop does.

Once in a while Catholic primary school children have asked me what my main job was! One of the major chess pieces is the bishop, together with the king, queen, and knights.

Nine days ago I was in Bathurst to consecrate the new Catholic bishop there and a week ago I was in Brisbane for the 150th anniversary of the creation of that diocese through the consecration of their first bishop in Dublin.  Sydney is the mother church for all the 28 Catholic dioceses in Australia.

We often forget how different, difficult and sometimes cruel Australian life then was, especially for the aborigines and the men and women convicts.

1859 was also the year when Queensland separated from the colony of New South Wales, although Brisbane only had a population of 6000 and was a notoriously tough community, hosting the more difficult convicts. Queen's Wharf was logs by the river and when James Quinn, an outspoken and quarrelsome Irishman, arrived as the first Catholic bishop he famously asked where the town was!

Brisbane archdiocese now has more Catholics than Sydney archdiocese (although Sydney city is divided into three dioceses).

At Bathurst 2000 people gathered in the giant hall-gymnasium of St. Stanislaus' College, the second oldest boys' boarding school in Australia after Kings, Parramatta. Incidentally Stannie's coat of arms incorporates the kangaroo and the emu and the later Australian coat of arms was carefully designed not to infringe their copyright.

The bishop was ordained by the ancient laying on of hands ceremony described in the New Testament epistles. The music was excellent and the clergy and representatives from the 21 parishes enthusiastic for a new chapter in the story. The Anglicans rang their new Cathedral bells for the first time to celebrate.

A bishop leads the Church as a successor of the twelve apostles, who were chosen by Christ himself. He is the focus of unity locally and with the universal Church through his obedience to the Pope, who makes the appointment.

He is an important teacher, who protects the integrity of apostolic teaching, the chief priest through his celebration of the sacraments, especially confirmation and the ordination of priests, and he is ruler, consoler and supporter, the chief shepherd of his flock.

Bishops hold an ancient office, one of the very oldest.