Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to inform the House that a major ceremony has been conducted at the historic St Joseph's Cathedral in Rockhampton today. The new Bishop for the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton, Bishop Michael McCarthy, was officially ordained this morning. Bishop McCarthy is the 10th Bishop of Rockhampton and succeeds retiring Bishop Brian Heenan. The Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton is one of five in Queensland and covers over 414,000 square kilometres. There are 31 local parishes, which include Rockhampton city, Mackay, Bundaberg and as far west as Longreach.

Bishop McCarthy completed some of his schooling at Downlands College in Toowoomba and was first ordained a priest in Brisbane in 1978. More recently he was the Vicar for Clergy of the Archdiocese of Brisbane and parish priest of Hendra and Northgate. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Southern Queensland and a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of Queensland.