VATICAN CITY/AUSTRALIA
Vatican Radio
[with audio]
(Vatican Radio) It’s only been one week since the 54 year old bishop of Paramatta, Australia, Anthony Fisher OP received a visit from Apostolic Nuncio who informed him that the Pope was appointing him to lead the nations’ ‘Mother Church’, the Archdiocese of Sydney.
In his own words, he still ‘hasn’t got over the shock’: “As a boy, as a young man at university I used to go to Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral …and I never would have dreamed that I would be on the other side of the altar one day, there at the cathedral”.
Listen to his full interview with Emer McCarthy:
But shock aside, Pope Francis’ appointment is a homecoming for the Dominican who is a Sydney native and served as an auxiliary to the Archdiocese under Cardinal George Pell. Cardinal Pell has since been called to Rome to head the newly established Secretariat for the Economy.
Sydney may be Australia’s Mother Church, but it is also the most culturally diverse of its cities. This week the issue of coexistence came to the fore after counter terrorism police raided dozens of homes and detained 15 suspects, sparking angry protests from Sydney’s Muslim community.
“I think it’s a time that we need to hear the loving wisdom of Christ and his Church about peace and restraint on people’s anger and vengefulness” says Bishop Fisher. “The Catholic Church knows better than any institution in the world that people of different backgrounds can live together and love together…and I very much hope that Sydney can re-learn that right now”.
Another challenging facing the newly appointed Archbishop is the sexual abuse crisis which is being investigated by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Bishop Fisher says he is well aware of these challenges ahead and that his aspiration for his episcopal ministry is perhaps best explained by his chosen motto: Veritatem facientes in caritate’ Speaking the truth in love’.
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