In Sydney, The Fisher King – Pell Protege Returns as Archbishop

Making his most significant nod to date in the English-speaking world, at Roman Noon this Thursday (8pm on Harbour Bridge) the Pope named Anthony Fisher OP, the 54 year-old bishop of Parramatta, as ninth archbishop of Sydney.In Australia's marquee post, the Oxford-trained bioethicist and lawyer succeeds his mentor, Cardinal George Pell, who Francis brought to his side in February to oversee a revolution of Vatican governance at the helm of the newly-created Secretariat for the Economy.The move is little surprise. Practically from his appointment as auxiliary to Pell in 2003, the boyish prelate raised on the city's outskirts was advanced as a rising star, and his combination of youthful enthusiasm and academic chops quickly garnered an unusual amount of attention across the Anglophone church. Fisher's profile was bolstered even more in short order, when the Dominican was entrusted with overseeing Sydney's turn at hosting World Youth Day in August 2008. The role would end up making for a mixed blessing, however, as the now-archbishop created a furor during the event with a remark that the focus of "a few people" on the Aussie church's sex-abuse crisis amid the celebrations was "dwelling crankily on old wounds." Accordingly, in his first comments upon today's appointment, Fisher aimed to turn the page on the comment, saying that "Victims of abuse and all young people must come first – no excuses, no cover-ups. "The church must do better in this area, and I am committed to playing a leading role in regaining the confidence of the community and of our own members.... The Catholic Church in Australia is going through a period of public scrutiny and self-examination. I hope it will emerge from this purified, humbler, more compassionate and spiritually regenerated."The "public scrutiny" refers to an ongoing Australian state inquiry into the history of the church's response to abuse in its institutions. Pell himself came in for outraged criticism after an August statement while testifying to the panel that sought to compare the liability of the church to a "trucking company" where a driver "picks up some lady and then molests her."Notably more finessed than his "bull in a china shop" mentor, Fisher likewise comes to the post with a younger generation's tech savvy. Since taking the helm of Parramatta – the diocese comprising the city's western suburbs – in 2010, the archbishop-elect has likewise taken to taken to Twitter and maintains his own Facebook presence, where his latest post shares the news of today's appointment."I'm very excited to be returning to the Archdiocese of Sydney," Fisher wrote, "and building on strong foundations.... I ask you to pray for me that I might be a good shepherd after the heart of Jesus Christ."Given the late hour Down Under, the archbishop-elect's will likely face the cameras on Friday, local time. His installation date remains to be announced.-30-