Shane Anthony Mackinlay (born 5 June 1965) is an Australian prelate of the

Catholic Church 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 ...

who has been the Bishop of Sandhurst since 2019. He was the master of Catholic Theological College in Melbourne from 2010 to 2019.

Biography

Shane Mackinlay was born in Brunswick, Melbourne, on 5 June 1965. He studied at Corpus Christi College and obtained a bachelor's degree in theology from 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 ...

and a degree in physics from

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 ...

. He earned a doctorate in philosophy from the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

in 2005. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ballarat on 6 September 1991. He was parish priest in Colac from 1992 to 1997 and then at the cathedral in Ballarat. In 1998 he became parish priest of Sebastopol, secretary to Bishop

Peter Connors Peter Joseph Connors (born 6 March 1937) is an Australian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Ballarat from 1997 to 2012. Biography Connors was born in Mordialloc on 6 March 1937 and ordained as a priest on 23 July 1961. He w ...

and lecturer at the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

. He served as a member of the diocese's College of Consultors from 1999 to 2013. Until he was named a bishop in 2019, he served a parish in Bungaree from 2005 and another in Gordon from 2009 and headed the Advisory Council of Ballarat from 2010. He was master of the Catholic Theological College in Melbourne from 2010 until his episcopal appointment. From 2012 to 2014, during the inquiry conducted by the

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

into how the Catholic Church and other institutions had handled child abuse, Mackinlay served as spokesperson for the church. In September 2012, when the church submitted its report to the inquiry, Mackinlay said it had been difficult for the church to recognise the reality and extent of child abuse because "We had a very strong clerical culture which made it very difficult both for laypeople, for the families of these victims, for people in our schools, for people in our parishes and certainly for people in leadership and authority to accept that priests and religious hat is, members of religious orderscould do these evil things." The next year he was criticised by inquiry officials after he traced the origins of the abuse crisis to the social mores of the 1960s and 1970s and attempts to lower the age of consent. One official called his remarks disingenuous. On 23 July 2019,

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 Mackinlay Bishop of Sandhurst. On 16 October 2019, he was consecrated a bishop by

Peter Comensoli Peter Andrew Comensoli (born 25 March 1964) is an Australian Catholic prelate who was named the ninth Archbishop of Melbourne on 29 June 2018. He had been serving as the third Bishop of Broken Bay in New South Wales since December 2014. ...

, Archbishop of Melbourne, at

Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst and seat of the Bishop of Sandhurst. The cathedral is located in the provincial city of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. It was designed in the Goth ...

, and installed as bishop of Sandhurst.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackinlay, Shane 1965 births Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Sandhurst Monash University alumni KU Leuven alumni University of Divinity alumni Religious leaders from Melbourne People from Brunswick, Victoria 20th-century Australian Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Australian Roman Catholic priests Catholic University of Leuven alumni Australian Roman Catholic bishops