Anthony Fisher OP new Archbishop of Sydney

Dominican Bishop, Anthony Fisher of Paramatta will be installed as ninth Archbishop of Sydney on Wednesday 12 November at St. Mary’s Cathedral following his appointment by Pope Francis on 18 September 2014. A statement released by the diocese of Parramatta describes Bishop Anthony’s appointment and Pope’s expression of confidence in him as an honour. “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.

The Archbishop-elect was born at the Mater Hospital in Crows Nest, Sydney on 10 March 1960. He attended Catholic schools at Lakemba, Lane Cove, Ryde and Riverview. He studied history and law at the University of Sydney and practiced 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.

In 2003, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Sydney and was Coordinator of World Youth Day 2008.  He became Bishop of Parramatta in 2010 and now returns to the Archdiocese of Sydney as Archbishop. “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,” he 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.”
(From “Media release” - Diocese of Parramatta - 18 Sept 2014)