Notre Dame congratulates Bishop-elect McGuckin

Document Type

Media Release

Publication Date

Fall 17-5-2012

Publisher Name

The University of Notre Dame Australia

Publication Place

Sydney

Abstract

The University of Notre Dame Australia extends its congratulations to Bishop-elect Robert McGuckin VG EV, who has been appointed the sixth Bishop of Toowoomba by Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop-elect McGuckin is Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta, where he is Moderator of the Curia and Episcopal Vicar for Health and Welfare. He is also Canon Law lecturer in the School of Law at Notre Dame, Sydney.

Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Hayden Ramsay, said the University would feel the loss of its teacher and friend.

“Bishop-elect McGuckin is a scholar, a dedicated teacher and a great spiritual advisor,” Professor Ramsay said.

“He will be an exceptional leader to the people of Toowoomba.”

Bishop-elect McGuckin was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Sydney 1973, serving in the parishes of Matraville, Dulwich Hill and Mascot. From 1986, he worked in the Diocese of Parramatta in Canon Law and ministered in the parish of St Michael’s South Blacktown. He holds degrees in Theology and Canon Law and has extensive experience in Church Tribunals, where he is an accredited Ecclesiastical Judge. In 2011 the Bishops of the Province of Sydney appointed him Judicial Vicar of the Regional Tribunal.

Bishop-elect McGuckin said the responsibility of caring for the Diocese of Toowoomba rests with both members of the clergy and the broader community.

“It’s a privilege being appointed a Bishop of the Diocese, but it’s important to know that it’s not a ministry that I will exercise on my own,” Bishop-elect McGuckin said.

“A priest of the Diocese shares this ministry, as together with the Religious and the laity, we endeavour to fulfil the mission entrusted to us.”

“I realise many people are offering me congratulations and prayers of support and I would ask for those prayers to continue.”

Bishop-elect McGuckin said he hoped to remain involved in the Notre Dame community.

“I have enjoyed lecturing in the School of Law at Notre Dame and I’ve made good friends with students and staff over the past three years. I hope to be able to continue my involvement with the University in the future,” he said.

Bishop-elect McGuckin’s Episcopal Ordination will be in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Toowoomba, on 11 July 2012, the Feast of St Benedict – appropriately, given his years of teaching for Notre Dame in the St Benedict’s site at Sydney.

For further information please contact: Communications Officer, Elizabeth Fenech

The University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney Campus

T: 02 8204 4407

E: elizabeth.fenech@nd.edu.au

W: www.nd.edu.au/

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