Mark Coleridge

Mark Benedict Coleridge (born 25 September 1948) is an Australian Catholic bishop. Since 11 May 2012 he has served as the seventh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane. He previously served as the Archbishop of Canberra–Goulburn (2006–12) and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne (2002–06).


Mark Coleridge

DSS
Archbishop of Brisbane
Coleridge in Canberra, 2011
ArchdioceseArchdiocese of Brisbane
SeeBrisbane
Appointed2 April 2012
Installed11 May 2012
PredecessorJohn Bathersby
SuccessorIncumbent
Other postsMember of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (2011–present)
Orders
Ordination18 May 1974
by John Anthony Kelly
Consecration19 June 2002
by Denis Hart
Personal details
Birth nameMark Benedict Coleridge
Born (1948-09-25) 25 September 1948
Melbourne, Victoria
NationalityAustralian
DenominationRoman Catholic Church
ParentsBernard and Marjorie (née Harvey) Coleridge
Previous postArchbishop of Canberra–Goulburn (2006-2012);
Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne (2002-2006)
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne;
Corpus Christi College, Melbourne
MottoSanguis et Aqua
(Blood and Water)
Coat of arms
Ordination history of
Mark Coleridge
History
Priestly ordination
Ordained byJohn Anthony Kelly (Melbourne aux.)
Date18 May 1974
PlaceSt Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecratorDenis Hart (Melbourne)
Co-consecratorsGeorge Pell (Sydney)
Francesco Canalini (Apostolic Nuncio to Australia)
Date19 June 2002
PlaceSt Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Mark Coleridge as principal consecrator
Robert McGuckin11 July 2012
Michael McCarthy29 May 2014
Timothy Harris3 May 2017
Kenneth Howell14 Jun 2017
Styles of
Mark Coleridge
Reference styleThe Most Reverend
Spoken styleYour Grace
Religious styleArchbishop

Early life

Mark Coleridge was born in Melbourne, Victoria. The third of five siblings born to Bernard and Marjorie (née Harvey) Coleridge, he was educated at Saint Joseph's School, Tranmere, South Australia, Rostrevor College, Adelaide, and St Kevin's College, Toorak. Contemplating a career in the Australian diplomatic service, he graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in French. As a Melbourne seminarian, he entered Corpus Christi College, then in Werribee and later in Glen Waverley and Clayton.[1]

On 18 May 1974, Coleridge was ordained a priest at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, by Bishop John A. Kelly, an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne.[1] He worked as a parish priest there until moving to Rome where he earned a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Biblicum in 1984 and a Doctorate in Sacred Scripture with dissertation on the Infancy Narrative in Luke's Gospel in April 1992. He returned to Melbourne in 1992, where he spent three years at several theology appointments.[2] After some time in Rome devoted to doctoral studies and another stint in Melbourne, in 1997 he was appointed to a position in the Roman Curia at the Secretariat of State, where he spent four years.[3]

Episcopate

On 3 May 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed Coleridge as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne. On 19 June 2006, Pope Benedict XVI named him as Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn.[4] On 29 December 2011 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications for a five-year renewable term.[5] On 2 April 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him Metropolitan Archbishop of Brisbane and he was installed on 11 May 2012.[1]

As of 2015 he was a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Coleridge serves on that body's permanent committee, chairs its Commission for Evangelisation, and is a member of its Commission for Church Ministry.[6]

The Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference elected Coleridge one of its two delegates to the Synod on the Family in Rome in October 2015.[7] There he served as the relator (reporting secretary) for one of the four English-language working groups.[8]

In November 2017, Coleridge was elected by Australia's bishops to head their commission that will organize a plenary council of the Church in Australia in 2020.[9] On 4 May 2018 he was elected to a two-year term as president of the Bishops' Conference.[10]

Opposition to same-sex marriage

In 2017, during the national postal survey on same-sex marriage, Coleridge said he personally believed that the love shared by a same-sex couple could only ever be simply "the love of friends". He noted that children were not permitted to marry their parents, nor siblings permitted to marry one another, though he agreed that the cases of same-sex couples and close relatives were different. He said: "That is not to say that [same-sex couples] are not equal. It's simply saying that they are not the same and that they don't qualify for what we call marriage."[11]

References

  1. "Appointment of the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Brisbane: The Most Revd Mark Benedict Coleridge, DD" (PDF) (Press release). Catholic Church in Australia. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  2. "Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge". Archdiocese of Canberra – Goulburn. 2009. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  3. "Biography". Archdiocese of Brisbane. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  4. "Rinunce e Nomine, 19.06.2006" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  5. "Rinunce e Nomine, 29.12.2011" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  6. "Commissions Memberships". Catholic Church in Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  7. XIV Assemblea Generale Ordinaria del Sinodo dei Vescovi (4-25 ottobre 2015) - Elenco dei Partecipanti, 15.09.2015 (in Italian), Holy See Press Office, 15 September 2015, retrieved 11 April 2019
  8. McElwee, Joshua J. (13 October 2015). "Australian archbishop: Synod must change church's language, actions". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  9. Bowling, Mark (8 December 2016). "Archbishop Coleridge elected as chair for historic 2020 Plenary Council". The Record. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  10. "NEW ACBC PRESIDENT: 'Great opportunity to open ourselves to the power of God'". The Record. 10 May 2018. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  11. Koziol, Michael (26 September 2017). "Like parents and kids, same-sex couples don't 'qualify' for marriage: Archbishop Mark Coleridge". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Francis Carroll
Archbishop of Canberra  Goulburn
2006 2012
Succeeded by
Christopher Prowse
Preceded by
John Bathersby
7th* Archbishop of Brisbane
2012 present
Succeeded by
incumbent
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