OUR BISHOP
Meet Our Bishop
Bishop Gregory Charles Bennet is the tenth Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sale. He comes to us from the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.
DOSCEL
Bishop Greg Bennet
Bishop Gregory Charles Bennet is the tenth Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sale.
Bishop Bennet was born in 1963 and educated at St Dominic’s Primary School, East Camberwell, All Hallows Primary School Balwyn and Marcellin College Bulleen, before completing his secondary education at the ecumenical Braemar College at Woodend. He then joined the Commercial Bank of Australia whilst undertaking studies in Public Administration.
OUR BISHOP
Who Is Our Bishop?
In 1986 he began his seminary training and was ordained a priest for the Melbourne Archdiocese in 1992, ministering in several parishes. He continued his studies overseas graduating as a Master of Science in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University Maryland, USA before obtaining a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
On his return from Rome, Fr Bennet was appointed Director of the Ministry to Priests and Director of Ongoing Formation for Clergy for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. In 2005 he became the inaugural Director of the Archbishop’s Office for Evangelisation and also commenced as Parish Priest of St Bede’s Balwyn North. In 2012 Archbishop Hart appointed him Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, the same year that Fr Bennet was awarded the distinction of being appointed as a Prelate of Honour of His Holiness by Pope Benedict XVI. In March 2020 he was appointed by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli as Parish Priest of St Joseph’s West Brunswick.
Pope Francis appointed Monsignor Bennet as tenth Bishop of Sale on 27 June 2020.
Bishop Greg was ordained a Bishop and installed as the Bishop of Sale on 8 Dec 2020. Bishop Greg is the Vice President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Chair of the Bishops’ Commission for Professional Standards & Safeguarding. He represents the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) on Australian Catholic Safeguarding Ltd (ACSL). On 23rd March 2023, Bishop Greg received a further appointment as a Member of the Dicastery for the Clergy from His Holiness, Pope Francis.
BISHOP GREGORY CHARLES BENNET
What Does Our Bishop Do?
In the Catholic Church there are three levels of ordination within the sacrament of Holy Orders: Deacon, Priest and Bishop. The Second Vatican Council spoke of the Bishop as having ‘the fullness of the sacrament of Orders’ and dedicated an entire Decree to the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church.
The primary role of any Bishop is to ensure that the work of Christ is carried out at the local level by caring for all the faithful entrusted to him in his particular diocese. Often the Bishop is referred to as the Chief Shepherd since his ministry is modelled on that of Christ the Good Shepherd. Immediately we can see that the role of the Bishop is not simply that of ‘governing’ a local Church, but of caring for it, nurturing it and enabling it to grow and flourish. The role of the Bishop is that of guardian, teacher and preacher.
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