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 New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

since December 2014. From 2011 to 2014 he was an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

Early life

Comensoli studied at St Paul's (now Holy Spirit) College,

Bellambi Bellambi () is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It has a Bellambi railway station, New South Wales, railway station (opened 1889) on the NSW TrainLink South Coast Line. Bellambi is situated directly ...

, New South Wales, and studied commerce at the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...

while working for four years in the banking sector before switching to theology.

Priesthood

Comensoli entered

St Patrick's Seminary St Patrick's Seminary, Manly is a heritage register, heritage-listed former clergy house, residence of the Archbishop of Sydney and Roman Catholic Church in Australia, Roman Catholic Church seminary at 151 Darley Road, Manly, New South Wales, ...

in 1986 and obtained a

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a two- to five-year undergraduate degree or graduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically (but not exclusively) pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, de ...

(BTh) degree in 1989 and a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Bachelor of Sacred Theology (abbreviated STB) is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred by a number o ...

(STB) degree in 1991 from the

Catholic Institute of Sydney The Catholic Institute of Sydney, a tertiary educational facility that is a Partner Institution of the University of Notre Dame Australia, delivers theological courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. The institute is located in , in ...

. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Wollongong in 1992 by William Edward Murray. Comensoli obtained a

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology (; abbreviated LTh or STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred ...

(STL) from the

Alphonsian Academy 150px, Alphonsus Liguori, whose teachings inspired the establishment of the Academy. The Pontifical Alphonsian Academy (; ), also commonly known as the Alphonsianum, is a pontifical institution of higher education founded in 1949 by the Redempt ...

in Rome in 2000, a

Master of Letters A Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. Ireland Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland's ...

(MLitt) degree in

moral philosophy Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied et ...

from the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

in 2007 and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degree in theological ethics from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. His

doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

was titled "Recognising persons: the profoundly impaired and Christian anthropology" and was submitted in 2012.

Episcopacy

Comensoli was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney and titular bishop of

Tigisis in Numidia __NOTOC__ Tigisis, also known as Tigisis in Numidia to distinguish it from another Tigisis in Mauretania, was an ancient fortified town of North Africa near what is now Aïn el-Bordj, Algeria. It was near Lambese and Thamagada. History Under t ...

by Pope

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

on 20 April 2011. He was consecrated as a bishop by Cardinal

George Pell George Pell (8 June 1941 – 10 January 2023) was an Australian cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 2002, he faced recurring accusations of sexual abuse, although his subsequent sexual abuse conviction was quashed on appeal to the High Cour ...

at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney on 8 June 2011, becoming Australia's youngest Catholic bishop. On 27 February 2014, Comensoli was appointed by Pope Francis as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Sydney following Cardinal Pell's appointment as prefect of the newly formed

Secretariat for the Economy The Secretariat for the Economy () is a dicastery of the Roman Curia with authority over all economic activities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Description Pope Francis established the secretariat in a '' motu proprio'', ''Fidelis ...

. On 18 September 2014, Pope Francis appointed

Anthony Fisher Anthony Colin Fisher (born 10 March 1960) is an Australian prelate of the Catholic Church and a friar of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). Since 12 November 2014, he has been the ninth Catholic Archbishop of Sydney. He served as the third ...

the new Archbishop of Sydney, and Comensoli remained the apostolic administrator until Fisher's installation on 12 November. On 20 November 2014, Pope Francis appointed Comensoli as the Bishop of Broken Bay. His installation took place on 12 December. On 29 June 2018, Comensoli was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne. He was installed on 1 August. Comensoli is the Grand Prior of the Victoria Australia Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Comensoli personally vouched for Cardinal Pell by signing a letter of support in 2015 ahead of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, describing him as a "man of integrity", and considered him a personal friend. Comensoli has stated that he would not break the seal of confession for confessions which include admissions of sexual abuse.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Comensoli, Peter Andrew 1964 births Living people University of Wollongong alumni Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alphonsian Academy alumni Australian people of Italian descent Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI Roman Catholic bishops of Broken Bay Roman Catholic moral theologians Roman Catholic archbishops of Melbourne Roman Catholic bishops of Sydney Australian Roman Catholic archbishops Grand Priors of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre