By AC Wimmer
CNA Newsroom, Jun 20, 2025 /
09:29 am
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Anthony Ireland, auxiliary bishop of Melbourne, Australia, as the new archbishop of Hobart, marking the second major Australian archdiocesan appointment this week following the naming of Bishop Shane Mackinlay to Brisbane on June 19.
The 68-year-old Ireland will succeed Archbishop Julian Porteous, who is retiring after nearly 12 years leading Tasmania’s Catholic community.
The appointment was announced Friday by the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
“With a heart full of quiet joy, I have received the news of this appointment, humbled and grateful for the trust placed in me to shepherd a diocese,” Ireland said in a statement.
“As a parish priest, I found deep fulfillment in the pastoral relationships formed through shared faith and mission. I now look forward with great hope to walking that same path of grace with the people of Tasmania.”
Born and raised in Melbourne, Ireland studied for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College, a regional seminary. Ordained in 1987, he served across several parishes in the Melbourne Archdiocese.
The archbishop-elect pursued advanced theological studies in Rome beginning in 1990 and earned higher degrees in both moral and spiritual theology. He completed doctoral studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.
The Australian prelate held teaching roles at Catholic Theological College in East Melbourne, where he lectured in moral theology and served as head of the Department of Moral and Practical Theology for eight years.
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, SDB, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, praised the appointment, highlighting Ireland’s “considerable experience also in parish ministry and the ministry of health care” as well as his academic and spiritual formation roles.
“The archbishop-elect’s experience in the Archdiocese of Melbourne will stand him in good stead as he takes up the new challenge of pastoral leadership in the Archdiocese of Hobart,” Costelloe said, noting that Ireland’s episcopal motto — “Confirm, strengthen, and support” — would be warmly welcomed by Tasmania’s Catholic community.
While an official installation date has not been announced, sources in the archdiocese indicate Ireland will be installed as archbishop in the coming weeks.
AC Wimmer (刘威猛) is the News Editor for Europe and Asia at EWTN News. The multilingual Australian, raised in Bavaria and South Africa, served as editor-in-chief of several news media outlets. A graduate in Philosophy and Chinese Studies from the University of Melbourne, the veteran journalist is a former Honorary Research Fellow in Communications at his alma mater and served on the Board of Caritas in Munich.
