Denis George Browne (born 21 September 1937) is the Emeritus Bishop of

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. He was

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of the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton from 1994 to 2014. Previously, he was Bishop of Cook Islands and Niue (1977–1983) and then became the tenth Catholic Bishop of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

(1983–1994).

Biography

Browne was born in

on 21 September 1937, the son of Neville John and Catherine Anne Browne. Browne received his primary education at St. Michael's Primary school, Remuera, and his secondary education at St. Peter's College, Epsom, conducted by the Christian Brothers. He then went on to study at

Holy Name Seminary Holy Name Seminary was a Roman Catholic seminary staffed by the Society of Jesus established in New Zealand for the training of priests. It was first opened in 1947 in Christchurch and closed at the end of 1978. Establishment With Holy Cross Co ...

, Christchurch (operated by the

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order) and Holy Cross College, Mosgiel (operated by the Vincentian order). Denis Browne was ordained a Catholic priest on 30 June 1962 by

James Liston James Michael Liston (9 June 1881 – 8 July 1976) was the 7th Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand. Early life James Michael Liston (registered at birth as Michael James Liston) was born in Dunedin on 9 June 1881, one of a family ...

, Archbishop of Auckland, at

St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland The Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph (usually known as St Patrick's Cathedral) is a Catholic church in Auckland CBD, situated on the corner of Federal Street and Wyndham St. It is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland a ...

. After ordination, he was assigned to parish work in Gisborne where he served from 1963 until 1968. He was at

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Auckland ...

1968–1971 and at

Remuera Remuera is an affluent inner city suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy" sub ...

1972– 1975. He served in

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

( Nukualofa, Houma,`Eva) in the period 1975–1977. On 29 June 1977 he was consecrated a bishop in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland. He served as Bishop of the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

and

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

until 1983. He became the tenth Bishop of Auckland on 24 August 1983 and served in that post until 1994 when he was

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as its second bishop. He was president of the

New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference The New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference (NZCBC; mi, Te Huinga o ngā Pīhopa Katorika o Aotearoa) is an episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in New Zealand that gathers the bishops of the country in order to discuss pastoral issues and ...

and a member of the executive committee of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania. In 1990, Browne was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a

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, for services to the community. Brown's resignation from the

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was accepted by

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. ...

on 22 November 2014 and his successor Stephen Lowe was appointed as the 3rd Bishop of Hamilton on the same date.Michael Field, "New Bishop of Hamilton named"
''

Stuff News Stuff is a New Zealand news media website owned by newspaper conglomerate Stuff Ltd (formerly called Fairfax). It is the most popular news website in New Zealand, with a monthly unique audience of more than 2 million. Stuff was founded in 20 ...

'' (Retrieved 27 November 2014) Browne was the principal consecrator at Stephen Lowe's episcopal consecration in the Hamilton Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 13 February 2015.

References

External links

''Bishop Denis George Browne'', Catholic Hierarchy website
(retrieved 12 February 2011)
Hamilton Catholic Diocese

Dennis Browne, NZ Catholic Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Dennis 1937 births Living people New Zealand expatriates 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in New Zealand Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland Holy Name Seminary alumni Holy Cross College, New Zealand alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Hamilton, New Zealand 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in New Zealand Roman Catholic bishops in the Cook Islands Roman Catholic bishops of Rarotonga