Richard Umbers (bishop)
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Richard James Umbers (born 17 March 1971) is an Australian
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
bishop. He is currently 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 and the youngest Latin Catholic bishop in Australia. He is also the first priest of
Opus Dei is an institution of the Catholic Church that was founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaría Escrivá. Its stated mission is to help its lay and clerical members seek holiness in their everyday occupations and societies. Opus Dei is officially r ...
to be appointed a bishop in Australia.


Early life

Umbers was born in
Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tāmaki River estuary to the east. The Auckland isthmus is the narrowest connect ...
, New Zealand, on 17 March 1971 to Declan (1927–2013) and Mary (1933–2019) Umbers. He is the youngest of five children and the brother of Anthony, Andrew, Gregory and Margaret. He was raised in
Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area fo ...
. He originally studied management at the
University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...
in 1989 but transferred to the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
in 1992 to receive more intense formation at a centre of Opus Dei in
Chatswood, New South Wales Chatswood is a suburb in the Lower North Shore (Sydney), Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 10 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the Local gove ...
. He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Management from the University of Waikato, New Zealand.


Priesthood

Umbers entered the Roman College of the Holy Cross, the international seminary of
Opus Dei is an institution of the Catholic Church that was founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaría Escrivá. Its stated mission is to help its lay and clerical members seek holiness in their everyday occupations and societies. Opus Dei is officially r ...
seminary in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, in 1996 and studied at
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (, ) is a Roman Catholic university under the Curial Congregation for Catholic Education, now entrusted to the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, or more commonly called Opus Dei. It was started i ...
, Rome, achieving a Bachelor of Theology degree in 1999. Between 1999 and 2002, Umbers studied at the University of Navarre, Spain, where he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree. On 14 February 2002 he was ordained a deacon and was subsequently ordained a priest by Bishop Javier Echevarría, a prelate of Opus Dei, on 1 September 2002 at the Marian shrine of Torreciudad, Spain. Umbers has been based in Sydney since 2003, and has been chaplain of several educational institutions including Warrane College (2003–04; 2012–16) and Creston College (2012–16), residential colleges affiliated with the University of New South Wales, and Redfield College (2005–11), a school of the
Parents for Education The Parents for Education (PARED) Foundation in an Australian not-for-profit organisation that has founded and manages several independent Roman Catholic schools in the Australian cities of Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria. PARED ...
foundation. He has been a lecturer for the Centre for Faith, Ethics and Society at the
University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (known simply as Notre Dame; ; French language, French for 'Mary, mother of Jesus, Our Lady') is a Private university, private Catholic university with campuses in Perth, Sydney and Broome, Western Austr ...
.


Episcopate

Umbers was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney 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 24 June 2016 along with Anthony Randazzo, he was given the titular see of Thala in Tunisia. They were consecrated by
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 ...
on 24 August 2016 in
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians, locally known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is a Catholic basilica and the seat of the Archdiocese of Sydney. The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Vi ...
. He sits on the council of priests of the Archdiocese of Sydney on behalf of Fisher and is a representative for the archdiocese to the St John of God hospitals. He is published in the field of philosophy, regularly addresses youth gatherings, has an interest in social media, and has a library of his own podcasts. He runs a Twitter account named "Bishop Down Umber", the name of which is a pun on his nationality, and a Christianity and Theology themed meme page on Instagram named "bishopumbers". Umbers was naturalised as an Australian Citizen on 15 April 2024.


References


External links


Umbers on TwitterUmbers on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umbers, Richard Australian people of Irish descent 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia University of Waikato alumni 1971 births Internet memes introduced in 2015 Living people Religious leaders from Auckland New Zealand emigrants to Australia Opus Dei members Roman Catholic bishops of Sydney Naturalised citizens of Australia