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Richard James Umbers (born 17 March 1971) is an Australian
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
bishop. He is currently an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney and the youngest Catholic bishop in Australia. He is also the first priest of
Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...
to be appointed a bishop in Australia.


Early life

Umbers was born in Otahuhu, New Zealand, on 17 March 1971 to Declan (1927–2013) and Mary (1933–2019) Umbers. He is the youngest of five children and the brother of Anthony, Andrew, Gregory and Margaret. He was raised in
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 ...
. He originally studied management at the
University of Waikato The University of Waikato ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato), is a Public university, public research university in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand established in 1964. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university perfo ...
in 1989 but transferred to the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
in 1992 to receive more intense formation at a centre of Opus Dei in
Chatswood, New South Wales Chatswood is a major business and residential district in the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 10 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the loca ...
. He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Management from the University of Waikato, New Zealand.


Priesthood

Umbers entered the
Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...
seminary in Cavabianca, Rome, in 1996 and studied at Santa Croce Pontifical University, Rome, achieving a Bachelor of Theology degree in 1999. Between 1999 and 2002, Umbers studied at the University of Navarre, Spain, where he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree. On 14 February 2002 he was ordained a deacon and was subsequently ordained a priest by Bishop
Javier Echevarría Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game '' Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier Colon, known ...
, a prelate of Opus Dei, on 1 September 2002 at the Marian shrine of Torreciudad, Spain. Umbers has been based in Sydney since 2003, and has been chaplain of several educational institutions including
Warrane College Warrane College UNSW is an affiliated residential college at the University of New South Wales, Australia. The name of the College is derived from the Aboriginal word for the Sydney Cove area, "Warrang", highlighting the recognition by Warrane ...
(2003–04; 2012–16) and Creston College (2012–16), residential colleges affiliated with the University of New South Wales, and Redfield College (2005–11), a school of the Parents for Education foundation. He has been a lecturer for the Centre for Faith, Ethics and Society at the
University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of med ...
.


Episcopate

Umbers was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney 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 24 June 2016 along with
Anthony Randazzo Anthony Randazzo (born 7 October 1966) is the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay. He was previously an auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. He was consecrated by Archbishop Anthony Fisher at St Mary's C ...
, he was given the titular see of Thala in Tunisia. They were consecrated by
Anthony Fisher Anthony Colin Fisher (born 10 March 1960) is an Australian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and a friar of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). Since 12 November 2014, he has been the ninth Catholic Archbishop of Sydney. He served as the ...
on 24 August 2016 in
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians (colloquially, St Mary's Cathedral) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the cathedra, seat of the Catholic Bishops an ...
. He sits on the council of priests of the Archdiocese of Sydney on behalf of Fisher and is a representative for the archdiocese to the St John of God hospitals. He is published in the field of philosophy, regularly addresses youth gatherings, has an interest in social media, and has a library of his own podcasts. He runs a Twitter account named "Bishop Down Umber", the name of which is a pun on his nationality, and a Christianity and Theology themed meme page on Instagram named "bishopumbers".


References


External links


Umbers on TwitterUmbers on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umbers, Richard Australian people of Irish descent 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia University of Waikato alumni 1971 births Internet memes introduced in 2015 Living people Religious leaders from Auckland New Zealand emigrants to Australia Opus Dei members Roman Catholic bishops of Sydney