Mark Coleridge

{{Infobox Christian leader

| type = archbishop

| honorific-prefix = The Most Reverend

| name = Mark Coleridge

| honorific-suffix = DSS

| title = Archbishop of Brisbane

| image = Mark Coleridge,Canberra,2011 4043.jpg

| caption = Coleridge in Canberra, 2011

| province =

| diocese =

| archdiocese = Archdiocese of Brisbane

| see = Brisbane

| appointed = 2 April 2012

| term_start = 11 May 2012

| predecessor = John Bathersby

| successor = Incumbent

| ordination = 18 May 1974

| ordained_by = John Anthony Kelly

| consecration = 19 June 2002

| consecrated_by = Denis Hart

| cardinal =

| rank =

| other_post = Member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (2011–present)

| birth_name = Mark Benedict Coleridge

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|9|25|df=y}}

| birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria

| death_date =

| death_place =

| buried =

| nationality = Australian

| religion = Catholic Church

| parents = Bernard and Marjorie (née Harvey) Coleridge

| motto = Sanguis et Aqua
(Blood and Water)

| previous_post = Archbishop of Canberra–Goulburn (2006–2012)
Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne (2002–2006)

| profession =

| alma_mater = University of Melbourne;
Corpus Christi College, Melbourne

| signature =

| coat_of_arms=Coat of arms of Mark Benedict Coleridge.svg}}

{{Ordination

| ordained deacon by =

| date of diaconal ordination =

| place of diaconal ordination =

| ordained priest by = John Anthony Kelly (Melbourne aux.)

| date of priestly ordination = 18 May 1974

| place of priestly ordination = St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne

| consecrated by = Denis Hart (Melbourne)

| co-consecrators = George Pell (Sydney)
Francesco Canalini (Apostolic Nuncio to Australia)

| date of consecration = 19 June 2002

| place of consecration = St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne

| elevated by =

| date of elevation =

| bishop 1 = Robert McGuckin

| consecration date 1 = 11 July 2012

| bishop 2 = Michael McCarthy

| consecration date 2 = 29 May 2014

| bishop 3 = Timothy Harris

| consecration date 3 = 3 May 2017

| bishop 4 = Kenneth Howell

| consecration date 4 = 14 Jun 2017

| sources =

}}

{{infobox bishopstyles |

name=Mark Coleridge|

dipstyle=The Most Reverend |

offstyle=Your Grace |

relstyle=Archbishop |

deathstyle= |}}

Mark Benedict Coleridge (born 25 September 1948) is an Australian Catholic bishop. Since 11 May 2012 he has served as the sixth Archbishop of Brisbane in Queensland. He previously served as the Archbishop of Canberra–Goulburn (2006–2012) and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne (2002–2006).

Early life

Mark Coleridge was born in Melbourne, Victoria. The third of five siblings born to Bernard and Marjorie (née Harvey) Coleridge, he was educated at Saint Joseph's School, Tranmere, South Australia, Rostrevor College, Adelaide, and St Kevin's College, Toorak. Contemplating a career in the Australian diplomatic service, he graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in French. As a Melbourne seminarian, he entered Corpus Christi College, then in Werribee and later in Glen Waverley and Clayton.

On 18 May 1974, Coleridge was ordained a priest at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, by Bishop John A. Kelly, an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne. He worked as a parish priest there until moving to Rome where he earned a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Biblicum in 1984 and a Doctorate in Sacred Scripture with dissertation on the Infancy Narrative in Luke's Gospel in April 1992. He returned to Melbourne in 1992, where he spent three years at several theology appointments.{{cite web |url=http://www.cg.catholic.org.au/about/default.cfm?loadref=15 |title=Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge |year=2009 |publisher=Archdiocese of Canberra – Goulburn |access-date=2 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119193252/http://www.cg.catholic.org.au/about/default.cfm?loadref=15 |archive-date=19 January 2012 |url-status=dead }} After some time in Rome devoted to doctoral studies and another stint in Melbourne, in 1997 he was appointed to a position in the Roman Curia at the Secretariat of State, where he spent four years.{{cite web|access-date=2 November 2015| url= http://brisbanecatholic.org.au/archbishop/biography | title= Biography | publisher=Archdiocese of Brisbane}}

Episcopate

On 3 May 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed Coleridge as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne. On 19 June 2006, Pope Benedict XVI named him as Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn.{{cite press release | access-date = 12 April 2019 | language = it | url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2006/06/19/0316/00922.html | title = Rinunce e Nomine, 19.06.2006 | publisher = Holy See Press Office}} On 29 December 2011 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications for a five-year renewable term.{{cite press release|url= http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2011/12/29/0775/01867.html |title=Rinunce e Nomine, 29.12.2011|language=Italian |date=29 December 2011 |access-date=12 April 2019|publisher=Holy See Press Office }} On 2 April 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him Metropolitan Archbishop of Brisbane and he was installed on 11 May 2012.{{cite press release|url= https://www.catholic.org.au/acbc-media/downloads/all-downloads/bishops-1/media-releases-1/1251-media-release-from-the-archdiocese-of-brisbane-1/file |format=PDF|title=Appointment of the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Brisbane: The Most Revd Mark Benedict Coleridge, DD|date=2 April 2012|access-date=4 May 2018 | publisher= Catholic Church in Australia}}

As of 2015 he was a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Coleridge serves on that body's permanent committee, chairs its Commission for Evangelisation, and is a member of its Commission for Church Ministry.{{cite web| access-date= 2 November 2015| url= https://www.catholic.org.au/bishops/commission-membership| title= Commissions Memberships| publisher= Catholic Church in Australia}}

The Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference elected Coleridge one of its two delegates to the Synod on the Family in Rome in October 2015.{{citation | access-date = 11 April 2019 | publisher = Holy See Press Office | date= 15 September 2015 | language = it | title = XIV Assemblea Generale Ordinaria del Sinodo dei Vescovi (4-25 ottobre 2015) - Elenco dei Partecipanti, 15.09.2015 | url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2015/09/15/0676/01469.html}} There he served as the relator (reporting secretary) for one of the four English-language working groups.{{cite news|last1=McElwee|first1=Joshua J.|title=Australian archbishop: Synod must change church's language, actions|url=http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/australian-archbishop-synod-must-change-church-s-language-actions|access-date=14 October 2015|work=National Catholic Reporter|date=13 October 2015}}

In November 2017, Coleridge was elected by Australia's bishops to head their commission that will organize a plenary council of the Church in Australia in 2020.{{cite news | access-date = 8 May 2019 | date= 8 December 2016 | work = The Record |first= Mark | last = Bowling | url = https://www.therecord.com.au/news/national/archbishop-coleridge-elected-as-chair-for-historic-2020-plenary-council/ | title = Archbishop Coleridge elected as chair for historic 2020 Plenary Council }} On 4 May 2018 he was elected to a two-year term as president of the Bishops' Conference.{{cite news | access-date = 8 May 2019 | date = 10 May 2018 | work = The Record | url = https://www.therecord.com.au/news/national/new-acbc-president-great-opportunity-to-open-ourselves-to-the-power-of-god/ | title = NEW ACBC PRESIDENT: 'Great opportunity to open ourselves to the power of God' | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190508032200/https://www.therecord.com.au/news/national/new-acbc-president-great-opportunity-to-open-ourselves-to-the-power-of-god/ | archive-date = 8 May 2019 | url-status = dead }}

Coleridge is the Grand Prior of the Queensland Australia Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/oessh/luogotenenze_en.html|title=The Lieutenancies of the World Lieutenants and Grand Priors|access-date=2025-05-26}}

=Opposition to same-sex marriage=

In 2017, during the national postal survey on same-sex marriage, Coleridge said he personally believed that the love shared by a same-sex couple could only ever be simply "the love of friends". He noted that children were not permitted to marry their parents, nor siblings permitted to marry one another, though he agreed that the cases of same-sex couples and close relatives were different. He said: "That is not to say that [same-sex couples] are not equal. It's simply saying that they are not the same and that they don't qualify for what we call marriage."{{cite news | url = https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/like-parents-with-kids-samesex-couples-dont-qualify-for-marriage-archbishop-mark-coleridge-20170926-gyovm2.html | work = Sydney Morning Herald | access-date = 4 May 2018 | date= 26 September 2017 | title = Like parents and kids, same-sex couples don't 'qualify' for marriage: Archbishop Mark Coleridge | first = Michael | last= Koziol}}

Gallery

Coat of Arms of Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn.svg|Coat of Arms as the Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn

Coat of arms of Mark Benedict Coleridge.svg|Coat of Arms as Archbishop of Brisbane

References

External links

{{cite web|url = https://brisbanecatholic.org.au/archbishop/biography/ | title= Archbishop Mark Coleridge biography | website = Archdiocese of Brisbane | url-status = live | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180310054931/https://brisbanecatholic.org.au/archbishop/biography/ | archive-date=10 March 2018 }}

{{succession box | title=Archbishop of Canberra–Goulburn

| before=Francis Carroll | after=Christopher Prowse | years=2006–2012|}}

{{succession box | title=Archbishop of Brisbane

| before=John Bathersby | after=incumbent | years=2012–present|}}

Category:1948 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia

Category:Religious leaders from Melbourne

Category:21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Australia

Category:People educated at St Kevin's College, Melbourne

Category:Members of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications

Category:Members of the Pontifical Council for Culture