Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Shane Mackinlay of Sandhurst, Australia, as archbishop of Brisbane. Mackinlay supports women’s ordination and synodality.
Newsroom, June 19, 2025, Gaudium Press – Pope Leo XIV has named Bishop Shane Mackinlay of Sandhurst, Australia, as the new archbishop of Brisbane, succeeding Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who has served in the role since 2012. The announcement was made on June 19, 2025, by the Holy See Press Office.
Bishop Mackinlay, 60, has been a prominent figure in the Australian Catholic Church. He served as vice president of the 5th Plenary Council of Australia, a significant gathering aimed at addressing the future of the Church in the country. In 2022, he publicly expressed disappointment when a resolution supporting women’s ordination to the diaconate failed to pass during the council’s deliberations. “This is not the way we were anticipating or hoping the process would go,” Mackinlay said at the time. “It is disappointing and a lot of people—women and men, priests and laypeople and bishops—were very distressed.”
Mackinlay’s involvement in global Church discussions has also been notable. During the first assembly of the Synod on Synodality in October 2023, he was elected by synod participants to serve on the Commission for the Synthesis Report. Speaking to the National Catholic Reporter, he emphasized the need for a universal discussion on women’s ordination, stating, “The question of the ordination of women is clearly something that needs to be addressed universally … And if it were to be that the outcome was for ordination to the diaconate to be open to women, I’d certainly welcome that.”
In October 2024, during the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality, Mackinlay was elected as Oceania’s representative on the commission responsible for drafting the synod’s Final Document, further solidifying his role in shaping the Church’s global dialogue.
Archbishop Mark Coleridge, 76, whom Mackinlay replaces, served as Brisbane’s archbishop for over a decade and was president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference from 2018 to 2022. His tenure was marked by efforts to address the Church’s response to the clergy abuse crisis and to promote synodal processes in Australia.
The appointment of Mackinlay signals Pope Leo XIV’s continued emphasis on leaders who are engaged in the synodal process and open to discussions on Church reform. The new archbishop is expected to assume his duties in Brisbane later this year.
Raju Hasmukh with Sources:
– Holy See Press Office, Announcement of Episcopal Appointments, June 19, 2025.
– National Catholic Reporter, “Australian Bishop Calls for Universal Discussion on Women’s Ordination,” October 2023.
– Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Plenary Council Proceedings, 2022.
– Synod on Synodality Official Reports, October 2023 and October 2024.
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