By Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
Australia’s Catholic bishops have welcomed the installation of the Most Reverend Tim Norton SVD as the third Bishop of Broome.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President and the Archbishop of Perth, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, was joined by Bishop of Geraldton Michael Morrissey, Australia’s Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Charles Balvo, and more than a dozen other bishops from around Australia for the installation service at St Mary’s College in Broome on December 4.
Archbishop Costelloe said Bishop Norton would bring enthusiasm and vision to the Diocese of Broome.
“As a member of the Society of the Divine Word, Bishop Norton has a deep appreciation of the importance of cultural traditions in the living of the Christian faith,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“Having lived and worked in many different settings, both here in Australia and overseas, Bishop Norton brings with him a love for the Indigenous people of our nation, a heart for the poor and marginalised, and a ‘down-to-earth’ approach to the needs and realities of our time.
“He will be a blessing not only to the Catholic community in the vast Diocese of Broome, but to all who live in the north-west.”
Bishop Norton was born in Sydney in 1958 and initially trained as a physiotherapist, working in inner-city Darlinghurst with young people who were experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental health issues.
He entered the Society of the Divine Word in 1984 and took his first vows in 1986.
In 1991 he was ordained priest, ministering in parishes in Mexico until 1996.
Having undertaken post-graduate study in spiritual direction in Melbourne in 1997, he served as the Society’s prefect for theology students and novice and postulant director, based in Melbourne and Sydney, from 1998 to 2004.
His nine years as leader of the Society’s Australian province (which takes in New Zealand and Thailand) was followed by ministry in Italy from 2014 to 2021.
And in February 2022 he was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane.
Bishop Norton said: “I am delighted with my appointment to the Catholic communities of the Kimberley. I am looking forward to engaging with all the people across the diocese, especially my Aboriginal sisters and brothers.”
BACKGROUND ON THE BROOME DIOCESE
- The Diocese of Broome is in the Kimberley region in the far north of the state of Western Australia.
- It spans 773,000 square kilometres (an area bigger than France) and has a population of about 36,000 people spread across remote towns and isolated Indigenous communities.
- It was established as an Apostolic Vicariate in 1887 and became a Diocese in 1966.
- Half of the population of the Kimberley region is Indigenous
- Indigenous people make up the majority (61 per cent) of Catholics connected with the Kimberley Church.