Christopher Charles Prowse (born 14 November 1953 in

East Melbourne, Victoria East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of ...

) is an Australian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. He is currently the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the Archdiocese of CanberraGoulburn; appointed to the post on 12 September 2013 and installed as archbishop on 19 November 2013. On 12 September 2016, Prowse was named as

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga following the retirement of Bishop Gerard Hanna. On 26 May 2020,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

announced Mark Stuart Edwards would become the sixth Bishop of Wagga Wagga, however Prowse remained apostolic administrator until Bishop Edwards' installation on 22 July 2020. Prowse served as the director of the Catholic Pastoral Formation Centre (1997-2001) and from 1999 was the media spokesman. He has been co-chair of the Australian Anglican and Roman Catholic Dialogue, and a member of the executive committee of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences in Oceania. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree (

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

1978), a Bachelor of Theology degree (

Melbourne College of Divinity The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in divinity. It is constituted by eleven theological colleges from eight denominations. The University of Divinity is the direct successor of the second oldest ...

1979), a Licentiate in Moral Theology (

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

, Rome, 1987) and a Doctorate in Moral Theology (

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Ponti ...

- Alfonsianum Academy, Rome, 1995).

Early life and career

Christopher Charles Prowse was born in

, on 14 November 1953. He is the third of six children of Frank Prowse and Marian Atkinson. His early education was at St Francis Xavier's Primary School in Box Hill and St Leo's College also in Box Hill. He was an altar server at St Francis Xavier's Parish, Box Hill. While at St Leo's College he enjoyed drama and public speaking and was the school captain in 1971. He studied for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College in Werribee (1972) and Clayton (1973-1980). He was ordained priest for the

Archdiocese of Melbourne The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is a Latin Rite metropolitan archdiocese in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Erected initially in 1847 as the Diocese of Melbourne, a suffragan diocese of Archdiocese of Sydney, the diocese was elev ...

by Archbishop Sir Frank Little at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, on 16 August 1980. After serving as a deacon at St John's, Mitcham, in 1979, he was appointed assistant priest of St Mary of the Angels, Geelong (1981–83), and of St Monica's, Moonee Ponds (1984-1985). He was also vocations director throughout 1984–85. From 1988 and 2001 he was lecturer in moral theology at the Catholic Theological College and from 1988 priest-in-residence at St Mary's, Thornbury. In 1996, he was appointed parish priest of Holy Spirit Parish, East Thornbury. During this time Prowse was also director of the Catholic Pastoral Formation Centre (1997-2001) and from 1999 he was their media spokesman. In August 2001 he was named vicar general and moderator of the curia of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, after a short appointment as assistant of the diocesan administrator. At this time he became a member of the College of Consultors of the archdiocese, and of other major committees. On 6 October 2001 he was appointed a

Chaplain of His Holiness A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments.

Episcopate

On 4 April 2003,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

named him

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Bahanana and an auxiliary bishop of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

; he was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, by Archbishop Denis Hart on 19 May 2003. From 2007 until 2009 he had pastoral responsibility for the Western Region of Melbourne and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

. In 2007 he became the Episcopal Vicar for Justice and Social Services, and in 2008 for health. He was appointed to committees organising Days in the Diocese Melbourne and World Youth Day Sydney. Prowse was appointed as the

Bishop of Sale The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sale is a suffragan Latin Church diocese of Archdiocese of Melbourne, that covers the south east of Victoria, Australia. The diocese was established in 1887. Gregory Bennet was appointed bishop of Sale on 27 June ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

on 18 June 2009. On 12 September 2013,

appointed Prowse as Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn. He was installed on 19 November 2013 at

St Christopher's Cathedral, Canberra St Christopher's Cathedral, officially The Cathedral of St Christopher, is the main place of Roman Catholic worship and the seat of the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, in the city of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Te ...

. His appointment followed a period of 16 months in which the post was vacant after the previous archbishop, Mark Coleridge, was appointed as the

Archbishop of Brisbane In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

. On 12 September 2016, Pope Francis appointed Prowse as apostolic addministrator of

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

. Within the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Prowse is a member of the Permanent Committee and chairman of the Commission on Ecumenism and Inter-religious Relations; he is a member of the Commission for Relations with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prowse, Christopher Living people 1953 births Roman Catholic archbishops of Canberra and Goulburn Roman Catholic bishops of Sale Clergy from Melbourne Monash University alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Pontifical Lateran University alumni Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Australian Roman Catholic archbishops People from East Melbourne

Early life and career

Episcopate

See also

References