Father Michael McCarthy has been appointed by Pope Francis on March 10 as the new Bishop of Rockhampton in Queensland, five months after the position became vacant.
The 63-year-old has been serving in the Archdiocese of Brisbane as the Episcopal Vicar for clergy and parish priest of Hendra and Northgate.
Fr McCarthy succeeds Bishop Brian Heenan, who retired on October 1 last year. Since that time, Fr John Grace has filled the role of diocesan administrator.
The Bishop-elect said he was “humbled” by the appointment as the 10th Bishop of Rockhampton.
“I look forward to many years of service as Bishop to the priests, religious sisters and brothers and the Catholic people of the diocese,” he said.
President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Archbishop Denis Hart said he welcomed the appointment.
“Fr McCarthy has already shown distinctive leadership in the care of clergy and people in Brisbane,” he said. “I know he will receive a gracious and enthusiastic welcome in his new diocese.”
Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge echoed Archbishop Hart’s words in congratulating Bishop-elect McCarthy.
“[He] has been a great contributor to the Church in Brisbane and Queensland through the years, serving as parish priest, seminary rector, Vicar for clergy and director of Clergy Life and Ministry,” he said.
“This wide pastoral experience means that he is unusually well equipped for what awaits him in Rockhampton. As a son of Toowoomba, he is no stranger to the rural areas that lie beyond the capital.”
Archbishop Coleridge added that Bishop-elect McCarthy would be greatly missed in the Archdiocese of Brisbane.
“Our farewell to him will be tinged with sadness,” he said.
“But we rejoice with the diocese of Rockhampton that they now have a new chief pastor who will make his own unique contribution in the diocese and beyond.”
The dioces of Rockhampton has a population of more than 430,000, of which 24.8 per cent are Catholic, according to the 2011 census.