SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 16, 2003 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II appointed Father Julian Porteous and Dominican Father Anthony Fisher as auxiliary bishops to the Archdiocese of Sydney.
Bishop-designate Porteous is rector of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Sydney.
Bishop-elect Fisher has been the foundation director and professor of bioethics and moral theology at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family based in Melbourne. He is also the president of the London-based Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.
Both men were born, raised and educated in Sydney.
Archbishop George Pell of Sydney said he welcomed the appointment of the two auxiliary bishops. «I look forward to working with Bishop Porteous and Bishop Fisher,» he said.
The archdiocese is currently served by two auxiliaries: Bishop David Cremin, who was consecrated in 1974, and Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, consecrated in 1984. The additional two auxiliaries will be consecrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Sept. 3.
Julian Porteous was born on June 5, 1949. His father, John, was a staff officer in the Australian Army, before retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel to pursue a career in private enterprise. His mother, Pam, was brought up a Catholic, but on her father’s side can claim Methodist and Quaker antecedents.
He was ordained a priest for the archdiocese on Sept. 7, 1974. He has been involved actively with the development of ecclesial movements in Australia, principally the Disciples of Jesus Community and the Emmanuel Community.
Father Porteous was appointed rector of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in January 2002 and will continue in this role after his episcopal ordination.
Anthony Fisher is a friar of the Order of Preachers. He was born in 1960 to Gloria Maguregui, a Spanish Basque who migrated with her family to Australia from China and the Philippines in the 1950s, and Colin, a pharmacist.
In 1985 he entered the Dominicans. He studied for the priesthood in Melbourne. He was ordained a priest in Sydney on Sept. 14, 1991. Thereafter, he undertook doctoral studies in bioethics at the University of Oxford until 1995. His doctorate was granted for a thesis on justice in the allocation of health care. He then returned to Melbourne to take up a lectureship in the Australian Catholic University.
For the past three years he has been the foundation director and a professor of bioethics and moral theology in the John Paul II Institute. At 43 he will be the youngest Catholic bishop in Australia.
