Anthony Fisher

Fisher was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Sydney and titular Bishop of Buruni by Pope John Paul II on 16 July 2003 and consecrated by Cardinal George Pell at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, on 3 September 2003. He took "Speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15) as his episcopal motto. He was the parish priest of Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Watsons Bay and Episcopal Vicar for Life and Health in the Archdiocese of Sydney, as well as serving on the Australian Bishops' Commission for Doctrine and Morals[1] and as chair of the Catholic Schools Board, chair of the Catholic Education Commission of New South Wales, deputy chancellor of the Catholic Institute of Sydney and an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame Australia.[10] He has been a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life since 2004.

Fisher was the organiser of World Youth Day 2008 held in Sydney.[11] This was the largest youth gathering and largest religious event ever held in Australia. It attracted 250,000 young people for a week-long festival and 400,000 people for the final Mass with Pope Benedict XVI, which was held at Randwick Racecourse.[12]

Fisher was named the third Bishop of Parramatta by Pope Benedict XVI on 8 January 2010 and was installed on 4 March 2010 in St Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta.[1] As Bishop of Parramatta, Fisher oversaw the implementation of Faith in Our Future, the pastoral plan for the Diocese of Parramatta, which focussed on growing and sharing faith in the areas of families, youth, ethnicity, vocations and evangelisation.[13] Under his episcopate, Fisher continued as chair of the Catholic Education Commission of New South Wales and adjunct professor in theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He was also a member of the company of the Australian Catholic University and served as a member of the Australian Bishops' Commission for Pastoral Life, as chair of the Anti-Euthanasia Task Force and as the Bishops' Delegate for Youth.

Fisher issued a number of pastoral letters to priests and the faithful of the diocese on the themes of 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 other New South Wales bishops, "Sowing in Tears", Lent 2013),[14] Personal Vocation ("Thy Kingdom Come", Christ the King 2013) and the Eucharist ("This Wonderful Sacrament", Corpus Christi 2014).[15] 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. On 20 December 2011, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Notre Dame Australia.[10]

On 18 September 2014, Pope Francis appointed Fisher as Archbishop of Sydney.[11] The next day, Fisher called for harmony in the community in light of counter-terrorism raids that had just begun. He said, "As a religious leader though I think people of faith have something very important to do and to say at the moment. [These are] troubled times in our world and even in our own city. We need to bring some calm and some restraint and some wisdom at this time."[16] Fisher was installed as Archbishop of Sydney on 12 November 2014 in a ceremony attended by the Lord Mayor of Sydney (Clover Moore), the Premier of New South Wales (Mike Baird) and John Howard, a former Prime Minister of Australia, as well as other politicians and leaders of Orthodox Christian and other religious communities in Sydney.[17][18][19]

On 6 May 2015, Pope Francis appointed Fisher a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[20]

On 13 August 2015, Fisher debated moral philosopher Peter Singer at the Sydney Town Hall about the legalisation of euthanasia.[21] The debate was organised by the Sydney University Catholic Society and adjudicated by the ABC's Editor of Religion and Ethics, Scott Stephens.[22] Fisher argued that euthanasia, "creates two classes of people: those whose lives we value and those whose lives we don't" and that while comforting people through their suffering requires more from society, it also places more value on humanity and endorses the intrinsic value of life.[23]

In December 2015, Fisher was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome following a gastrointestinal infection which was complicated by an immune-related pathology. He received intensive care treatment, physiotherapy and rehabilitation at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, before moving to Mount Wilga Rehabilitation Centre.[24] The Archdiocese of Sydney announced that Fisher would return to regular, active duties from 5 May 2016[25] and he celebrated his first public Mass on 29 May 2016.[26]

Pope Francis named Fisher as a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on 6 August 2019. The appointment involves specific dialogue with the Eastern churches in Australia and across the world.[27]

In July 2008, when asked at a World Youth Day press conference about an alleged case of clerical sexual abuse in Melbourne years earlier, Fisher said: "Happily, I think most of Australia was enjoying delighting in the beauty and goodness of these young people and the hope — the hope for us doing these sorts of things better in the future — as we saw last night [at World Youth Day], rather than, than dwelling crankily, as a few people are doing, on old wounds." The father of the alleged victims and advocates for survivors of abuse reacted angrily and criticised Fisher's language. One said: "We've had non-stop calls from family members who are angry and distressed about this young Bishop's response."[28][29] Fisher later said his comment was taken out of context: "I called the reporters cranky and, boy, did I get jumped upon ... they said I was calling the abuse victims cranky, which I certainly wasn't doing."[30][lower-alpha 1]

When he became archbishop, Fisher committed the church to doing better in its response to child sexual abuse cases. Upon being named archbishop, he said, "Victims of abuse and all young people must come first – no excuses, no cover-ups. The Church must do better in this area and I am committed to playing a leading role in regaining the confidence of the community and of our own members."[11]

He stated that the "Church in Australia is going through a period of public scrutiny and self-examination" and expressed his hope that it "will emerge from this purified, humbler, more compassionate and spiritually regenerated".[11][32] He lamented the institutionalised child sexual abuse that occurred historically in his former Diocese of Parramatta and took the opportunity to apologise for what he acknowledged as the Church's failure to properly assist victims.[33] Speaking of previous abuse cases, he reiterated his desire for openness and change saying, "We want to make sure every child is safe and cherished going forward."[32]

At the Mass for his installation as Archbishop of Sydney, Fisher said: "To survivors of abuse and all affected I say: the Church is - I am - profoundly sorry for what happened. All young people must be cherished and protected. The Church can do better and I am committed to giving a lead in this area. I pray that the Church will emerge from this period of public scrutiny humbler, more compassionate and spiritually regenerated. Only then will we regain credibility and trust in many people's eyes."[34] He repeated this apology at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse[35] and held a service of Prayers of Forgiveness and Reparation at St Mary's Cathedral following the release of the commission's final report.[36]

In the campaign cycle leading up to the 2016 federal elections, Fisher condemned the policies of the Australian Greens describing them as "nasty" and contravening "basic moral standards", specifically calling out their policies regarding same-sex marriage, removing religious "exemptions" in anti-discrimination laws and their support of the Safe Schools Programme. He also called on the government to honour its commitment to take in Syrian Christian refugees and put in place common-sense policies regarding refugees and asylum seekers in light of the exposition of abuse suffered by detainees in offshore processing centres. He stated that it was a "matter of striking a balance" although adding that "[he did not] know all the answers".[37] This followed calls that he made in September 2015 exhorting the government to consider increasing its humanitarian refugee intake and to prioritise Christians fleeing Syria believing it necessary due to "campaigns to drive Christians from the Middle East". Both the Anglican and Catholic churches in Australia had also asked the government to consider increasing its yearly humanitarian refugee intake by 10,000.[38][39][40]

Fisher has consistently opposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage.[41] According to The Independent newspaper, this is "part of his general stance against increased rights for LGBT people."[42] New Ways Ministry has drawn attention to a number of "LGBT-negative statements" Fisher has made.[43] In March 2017, Fisher stated that businesses such as Qantas and Telstra should not sponsor Pride events aimed at supporting LGBT staff or encouraging non-discrimination, nor lobby in favour of the legalisation of same-sex marriage. He accused private sector chief executives of applying "pink bans" to other companies or executives that did not support such issues.[44]

In August 2017, during the political debate to determine whether Australia should introduce same-sex marriage, Fisher argued that religious schools, charities and hospitals could be coerced to comply with the "new view of marriage" if the majority of Australians opted for a change in legislation and that teachers would not be free to follow the "traditional" church teaching on marriage, but instead be forced to teach a more "politically correct" curriculum.[45][46][47] He said that religious believers would be vulnerable to discrimination suits and could even lose their jobs if same-sex marriage is legalised.[48] He also wrote a letter to all parents of children in Catholic schools across New South Wales to advise them to vote no to a change in the law.[49] Same-sex marriage was subsequently introduced to Australia by an act of federal parliament in December 2017 following widespread support in a national postal survey.[50] Fisher said he was "deeply disappointed" with the result.[51]

In 2017, the Turnbull government decided to adopt the key recommendations of the 2011 Gonski Report commissioned by the Gillard government.[52] There were concerns from the Opposition and other faith-based education providers that the needs-based funding model the Government proposed to adopt would disproportionately affect faith-based schools.[53][54] In response, Fisher welcomed the Government's decision to adopt a needs-based funding model but decried its falling short of what Gonski recommended in his original report. He also denied all allegations that the Catholic Church was asking for special treatment for its schools with respect to funding and stated that whilst, on a cursory examination, needs-based funding seemed equitable, it would disproportionately affect students from poor socioeconomic backgrounds in low-fee Catholic schools.[55]