Bishop of Parramatta
On 8 January 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Anthony the third Bishop of Parramatta. As Bishop he oversaw the consultations, publication and implementation of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan, Faith in Our Future. This sets two basic goals for the Diocese: to grow our faith and to share our faith, focusing on five areas of greatest need and potential: families, youth, ethnicity, vocations and evangelisation.
Bishop Anthony worked extensively with the Catholic Education Office, principals and staff on the mission and identity of Catholic schools today, and with youth ministers and groups in promoting the connection of young people with the Church.
He addressed pastoral letters to the priests and people of Parramatta on Confession (Come back to Me with all your heart, Lent 2011), Pastoral Planning (Faith in Our Future, Lent 2012), the Child Abuse Crisis (with the NSW Bishops, Sowing in Tears, Lent 2013) Personal Vocation (Thy Kingdom Come, Christ the King 2013) and the Eucharist (This Wonderful Sacrament, Corpus Christi 2014).
Through letters, lectures, preaching and diocesan projects he addressed a range of questions such as refugees, homelessness, the Blue Mountains fires, the persecution of Christians, same-sex ‘marriage’, the family and social justice, euthanasia, the existence of God, faith and divine revelation, Christ and the saints, asceticism, the liturgy, vocations and preaching.
Following a significant increase in vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese of Parramatta, he directed the building of the new Seminary of the Holy Spirit at Harris Park. He also modernised the chancery, communications, professional standards and other aspects of the Diocese.
Since 2004, he has been an ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the body that advises the Church on bioethics. He recently published Catholic Bioethics for a New Millennium (Cambridge University Press). In 2011, Bishop Anthony received the honorary degree Doctor of Laws from the University of Notre Dame Australia.