Philip Leslie Freier (born 9 February 1955) is an Australian

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 t ...

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 ...

. He has been the 13th Archbishop of Melbourne since 16 December 2006. He served as Primate of Australia from 28 June 2014 until 31 March 2020. Previously, he served as Bishop of the Northern Territory between 1999 and 2006.

Early life, education and work

Freier was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

where he attended Hendra State High School and was raised in the

Roman 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 ...

. In addition to a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

from

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

, he has received the degrees of Master of Educational Studies (MEdSt) from the University of Newcastle,

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theolog ...

(BD) from the Melbourne College of Divinity,

Diploma of Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on the g ...

(DipEd) from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

and

Bachelor of Applied Science The Bachelor of Applied Science, often abbreviated as B.AS., BAS, BSAS, BASc, B.A.Sc., or BAppSc, is an undergraduate degree. There are also ''Bachelor of Arts and Science'' and ''Bachelor of Administration Science'' undergraduate degrees, also a ...

(BAppSc) from the

Queensland Institute of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The unive ...

. Freier was elected a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...

(FAICD) in 1995. He worked as a science teacher for six years prior to being

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 ...

Ministry

After his ordination in 1982, Freier was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

in Kowanyama, Queensland, followed by five years as the rector of St Oswald's Banyo, before being appointed the rector of Christ Church

Bundaberg Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The B ...

. During his time in Kowanyama he studied and became a fluent speaker of one of the local indigenous languages, the

Koko-Bera language Gugubera (Koko Pera), or Kok-Kaper, is a Paman language of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian conti ...

and is now one of only approximately 50 speakers of this endangered tongue. In 1999, Freier was elected as the Bishop of the Northern Territory and consecrated a bishop on 22 July at

St John's Cathedral (Brisbane) St John's Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane and the metropolitan cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of Queensland, Australia. It is dedicated to St John the Evangelist. The cathedral is situated in Ann Street ...

. As a supporter of the indigenous Australian communities he pledged to support the

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...

during their healing process. In April 2014, he wrote an opinion piece in

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased '' The Sydney Morning Hera ...

newspapers criticising the Australian government's "

Operation Sovereign Borders Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) is a border protection operation led by the Australian Defence Force, aimed at stopping maritime arrivals of asylum seekers to Australia. The operation is the outcome of a 2013 federal election policy of the ...

" policy which places children in immigration detention, arguing that "churches cannot be silent" and must care for "the alien, orphan and widow". Freier has criticised large corporate banks in Australia, arguing that wealth creation should not be "separated from moral and social responsibility" and criticised the Abbott Government for "privileging the financial interest of corporations". Freier has served as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

to the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve since 2001. Freier was elected as Anglican Primate of Australia on 28 June 2014, defeating Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies. He was installed as Primate by

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for ...

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is also the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Victoria. ...

on 13 August 2014. Freier resigned as Primate effective 31 March 2020 and was replaced by Geoffrey Smith as Primate on 7 April 2020 after the Committee of the Anglican Church's General Synod elected him as Freier's successor.

Personal life

Freier and his wife, Joy, live at "Bishopscourt", East Melbourne. They have two children and three grandchildren. He includes bush-walking, reading and the visual arts among his recreational pursuits.

Honours

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

, Most Venerable Order of Saint John (ChStJ) *

References

External links