I very much welcome the news of the appointment of Bishop Christopher Prowse to The See of Canberra and Goulburn. I know both Bishop Prowse and the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn well, and I am certain that he has the gifts and experience to serve splendidly in the Archdiocese which I was privileged to lead for some years.

Bishop Prowse has all that is required to engage the various cultures in the national capital, and his experience as Bishop of Sale has equipped him well to understand the rural parishes of the Archdiocese at a time of great change in rural Australia.

I am confident that the clergy, Religious and lay faithful of the Archdiocese will welcome Bishop Prowse as one sent by Christ himself and that they will find in him a pastor after Christ’s own heart.

The wait for a new Archbishop has been long, but the time has come now for the entire community of the Archdiocese to gather around Bishop Prowse and move forward on the path of discipleship and mission.
+The Most Reverend Mark Coleridge

Archbishop of Brisbane

Released by the Archdiocesan Communication Office

September 12, 2013