Martin Ashe (born 27 September 1953) is an Irish-Australian

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bishop. He has served as an Auxiliary Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is a Latin Church, Latin Rite Metropolitan Diocese, metropolitan archdiocese in Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Erected initially in 1847 as the Diocese of ...

since 2021. Prior to this, he served in various Melbourne parishes, was pastoral director at Corpus Christi College Seminary, and also director of Ministry to Priests within the Archdiocese.

Early life

Ashe was born in Kinsale, a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland and grew up in Killarney, in the neighbouring County Kerry. He was the eldest of 11 children and his family life was immersed in the Catholic faith. His uncle was a priest in Australian and he had a number of cousins who were in religious congregations. He was the altar server at the local St Mary's Cathedral parish for a number of years and by the time he was 18, decided to enter the seminary. He entered All Hallow College, Dublin, a seminary established for priests who would be sent overseas, in 1971.

Priesthood

He was ordained in Ireland by Archbishop Tomas O’Fiaich in June 1978, when he was 24 years old. He was immediately appointed to be a priest for the Archdiocese of Melbourne, arriving in September 1978. He was first appointed to the Hadfield parish in Melbourne's north. He has also served as an assistant priest in parishes in Clayton and Blackburn. He served as vocations director from the late 1980s. In the 1990s, he undertook further study at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

. He was moderator and then pastoral director of Corpus Christi College Seminary. From 1996 to 2004 he served as Parish Priest in Sunbury. In 2005 he was appointed director of ministry to priests in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. In 2012, he was appointed the inaugural parish priest of Christ the Light, taking in the areas of Doreen, Kinglake, Mernda and Whittlesea, where he served until his appointed as Auxiliary Bishop.

Episcopate

Ashe was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

on 14 May 2021 and was given the titular see of Muteci, in

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. He was consecrated by Archbishop

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. F ...

on 31 July 2021 in

St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of Saint Patrick (colloquially St Patrick's Cathedral) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Peter Comensol ...

along with Anthony Ireland.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, Martin Living people 1953 births Australian Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Sydney 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia Alumni of All Hallows College, Dublin