Mark Stuart Edwards (born 14 June 1959) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

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 ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

and professed member of the

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

appointed as the Bishop of Wagga Wagga. He has served in the past as a teacher and as a

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

before his episcopal elevation.

Life

Mark Stuart Edwards was born on 14 June 1959 in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

as one of four children. His father was from

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and worked for

Shell International Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

where he met his wife. The two relocated to Indonesia where Edwards and his brother were born before settling in Melbourne. His mother was a practising Catholic and his father was a devout

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

. His education was at Saint Leonard's school in

Glen Waverley Glen Waverley is a list of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Monash local government ...

before he began his high school education at Mazenod College in Mulgrave. He obtained a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from Monash in Clayton. In 1980 he entered the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of the

in Mulgrave and completed his ecclesial studies for the priesthood at

Catholic Theological College Catholic Theological College (CTC) is one of the constituent theological colleges of the University of Divinity, an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in divinity. The college is located in East Melbourne, Victoria. Hist ...

in Melbourne. Edwards had made his first application aged seventeen though the Oblates delayed his admission because of his age. The Oblates accepted his reapplication when he had finished his BSc. He made his final profession of vows as an Oblate on 17 February 1984 and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a priest on 16 August 1986. Edwards returned to Monash later for further studies where he obtained a

Bachelor of Letters Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second undergraduate university degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been t ...

and a PhD in philosophy in 2007. Edwards taught at Mazenod College from 1986 until 1989 and was then teaching at Iona College in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

from 1990 until 1997. From 1998 to 2004 he served as the Pre-Novice Master at Saint Mary's Seminary in Mulgrave prior to serving as

novice master In the Roman Catholic Church, a novice master or master of novices, lat. ''Magister noviciorum'', is a member of a religious institute who is responsible for the training and government of the novitiate in that institute. In religious institutes f ...

from 2004 until 2007. From 2005 to 2010 he served as a lecturer at Catholic Theological College while from 2007 to 2010 served as the Director of Scholastics at Saint Mary's Seminary. In 2011 he was appointed as the

of Iona College in Brisbane.

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. ...

appointed Edwards on 7 November 2014 as an Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne and as the Titular Bishop of Garba. Edwards was in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

when the

apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

delivered the news and he later said that he was "surprised and humbled" to be selected as a bishop though lamented that he could no longer resume his teaching duties. Edwards received his

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

on 17 December 2014 at Saint Patrick's Cathedral from Archbishop

Denis James Hart Denis James Hart (born 16 May 1941) is a retired Australian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Melbourne from 2001 to 2018. Early years and background Hart was born in East Melbourne, Victoria, the eldest of the three ch ...

with

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

and Paul Richard Gallagher serving as the co-consecrators. He serves at present as the Episcopal Vicar for Tertiary Education and Youth. Edwards attended

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-Li ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in 2016.

appointed Edwards on 26 May 2020 to serve as the new Bishop of Wagga Wagga in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Edwards was installed as Bishop of Wagga Wagga on 22 July 2020 at St Michael's Cathedral, Wagga Wagga.

Views

Mercy

Bishop Edwards has said that mercy leads us to understand God better and enables for people to be "strengthened" as dispensers of mercy to others. He has said that God's "tenderness is almost tangible" and He invites the faithful to open their hearts to receive the "free gift" of mercy which should be shared with others. Bishop Edwards continued that one's outward life must show mercy to others in order to be shown that same gift in return.

Christmas

In conversation with 774 ABC Melbourne's

Jon Faine Jonathan Eric Faine (born 21 September 1956) is an Australian former radio presenter who hosted the morning program on ABC Radio Melbourne in Melbourne. Faine is recognised as a prominent and influential member of the Australian Jewish communi ...

, Edwards said that he did not oppose stores selling

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

merchandise months prior to the event since it showed that the Christian message resonated. He said that the initial preparations enabled people the chance to plan their Christmas celebrations with those around them since "the Christian message is perhaps still meeting people" to coordinate the proper celebration of Christmas. But he expressed his hope that retailers would hold off on the recitation of carols until closer to Christmas and expressed his opposition to churches placing decorations months prior since "Church decorations go up at the start of

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

" to mark the season of preparation.

Euthanasia

Edwards is a strong opponent of

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

. Following the Lower House affirmative vote on euthanasia he took to Twitter and posted: "This is not good for our vulnerable".

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Mark Stuart 1959 births Bishops appointed by Pope Francis Living people Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Monash University alumni People from Balikpapan Clergy from Melbourne 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia 21st-century Roman Catholic titular bishops University of Divinity alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Wagga Wagga