Catholic Identity

Bishop Shane Mackinlay Appointed Archbishop of Brisbane

Last week, Pope Leo XIV announced the appointment of Bishop Shane Mackinlay, the current Bishop of Sandhurst, as the new Archbishop of Brisbane. He will take over from Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who is retiring after 13 years in the role and more than five decades of service as a priest.

Statement from Bishop Shane Mackinlay

I am deeply honoured by Pope Leo’s decision to appoint me as Archbishop of Brisbane – a diocese that has such a strong tradition of fostering the liturgical, spiritual, evangelising and educational endeavours of the Catholic community, both within the Archdiocese and more broadly.  

I am particularly pleased that I will be following Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who has been a friend and mentor to me for many years. In his thirteen years as Archbishop of Brisbane, he has led the Archdiocese with great conviction and generosity, as well as making a very significant contribution to the Church beyond the Archdiocese. In particular, I see the Action Plans that he promulgated after last year’s Archdiocesan Synod as providing a clear direction for the Church in Brisbane, as we seek to develop a more synodal Church that effectively proclaims Jesus’ good news in our contemporary world. I look forward to working to implement those plans, in collaboration with all who contributed to the process of developing them.  

Since I became the Bishop of Sandhurst nearly six years ago, I have been greatly encouraged and inspired by the lively faith and commitment of the people, priests and communities of the Diocese, and by the generous friendship and welcome they have offered to me personally. I am grateful to have shared in the pilgrim journey of the People of God here, where we have together begun new initiatives in living out our mission as Jesus’ disciples. While I will be sad to move on from the Sandhurst Diocese, I am excited by this opportunity to serve the broader Church in a new way.  

I ask for your prayerful support for me, for the Archdiocese of Brisbane, and for the Diocese of Sandhurst, as I prepare to take up this ministry.