"Sacked" Toowoomba Bishop Replaced

By Tess Livingstone
The Australian
May 15, 2012

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/sacked-toowoomba-bishop-replaced/story-e6frg6nf-1226355321055'Sacked' Toowoomba bishop replaced

THE Pope last night announced the appointment of a NSW priest as Bishop of Toowoomba, replacing Bishop Bill Morris, who was effectively sacked last year.

The new bishop will be Monsignor Robert McGuckin, 68, a senior priest of the Diocese of Parramatta, where he is Episcopal Vicar for Health and Social Welfare.

He is also a part-time lecturer in the School of Law at the University of Notre Dame and has degrees in theology and church law.

After leaving school he worked in banking for several years before studying for the priesthood and being ordained in 1973.

Monsignor McGuckin is the second new bishop appointed to Queensland from interstate in a few weeks. On Friday, the former Archbishop of Canberra, Mark Coleridge, was installed as Archbishop of Brisbane.

In a statement last night, Monsignor McGuckin said: "I would hope to build upon the good work of my predecessors and look forward to working with the clergy, religious and everyone in the diocese."

Controversy erupted in Toowoomba last year when Bishop Morris, then 67, announced he had taken early retirement "because it has been determined by Pope Benedict that the diocese would be better served by the leadership of a new bishop".

Bishop Morris said the Vatican's decision was sparked by complaints to Rome about an Advent letter he wrote in 2006 in which he argued that with an ageing clergy the church should be open to all eventualities, including ordaining women, ordaining married men, welcoming back former priests and recognising the validity of Anglican, Lutheran and Uniting Church orders.