Michael Joseph McKenna (8 December 1951 in

Bairnsdale Bairnsdale () ( Ganai: ''Wy-yung'') is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in a region traditionally owned by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people. The estimated population of Bairnsdale urban area was 15,411 at Ju ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

), an Australian

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

, is the eighth

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 ...

of the Diocese of Bathurst, appointed in 2009.

Early years and background

The eldest of the eleven children born to Maxwell and Marie (née Warburton) McKenna, Michael McKenna was educated at St Patrick's School, Stratford, and at St Patrick's College, Sale. From 1971–74, he studied in the Honours Schools of Political Science and English Literature at

The University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. With an early interest in audio and video technology, McKenna worked as a producer and presenter on 3RRR-FM and showed works at the Melbourne Fringe and

St Kilda Film Festival St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. St Kilda recorded a population of 19 ...

s. He commenced studying for the priesthood at St Paul's National Seminary, Sydney, and in 1983 was ordained priest by Bishop D'Arcy; graduating in theology from the

Sydney College of Divinity The Sydney College of Divinity (SCD) is a consortium of Christian theological educational institutions and Bible colleges based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The college is structured as a federation of member institutions, each of which ...

in 1984. Returning to Victoria, McKenna was appointed an Assistant Priest in the parish of St Joseph's,

Warragul Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of 19,8 ...

in the Diocese of Sale before moving to an administrative role as Bishop's Secretary, Diocesan Secretary and Chancellor where he was a regular columnist in the diocesan monthly newspaper, ''Catholic Life''. While undertaking postgraduate studies from the

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 ...

in Rome, in 1991 McKenna was elected as General Secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, based in Canberra. During 1998 he was Administrator of Lumen Christi Parish, Churchill before taking up a Resident Fellowship in the Divinity School of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Serving as rector of Corpus Christi College from 1999 until 2005, McKenna established strong links between the Seminary and the Catholic Church in Vietnam. He was a member of the Senate of Catholic Theological College and of the

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 ...

, where he served as chair of the Board of Ministry Studies. In 2006, McKenna was appointed as Catholic Chaplain to the University of Melbourne, where it is reported he reintroduced the celebration of Mass on campus and started new groups in social service, biblical study, Christian meditation and philosophy and faith. In 2007, he took on the pastoral care of All Saints Parish, Fitzroy, an inner city community of many cultures, most notably Vietnamese and Sudanese. That year, he was elected to the Archbishop's Council of Priests and appointed to the Melbourne Catholic-Evangelical-Pentecostal Dialogue.

Roman Catholic Bishop of Bathurst

On 15 April 2009 McKenna was appointed as Bishop of the Diocese of Bathurst and 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 ...

on 26 June 2009 by

George Cardinal Pell George Pell (born 8 June 1941) is an Australian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the inaugural prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy between 2014 and 2019, and was a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers between 2013 an ...

, together with Bishops Emeritus Patrick Dougherty and

Jeremiah Coffey Jeremiah Joseph Coffey (1 January 193319 November 2014) was the seventh Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Sale, Australia, serving from 1989 until his retirement in 2008. On retirement, he was styled Bishop Emeritus of Sale. Early years ...

, Bishop of Sale. It was the first time since the consecration of Bishop O'Farrell in 1920 that a bishop had been consecrated in Bathurst, though he was not consecrated in the Cathedral of St Michael and St John, but at St Stanislaus' College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Michael 1951 births Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Bathurst People from Bairnsdale Pontifical Gregorian University alumni