Timothy John Norton SVD (born 24 July 1958) 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 the Bishop of Broome, prior having served as an Auxiliary Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane The Archdiocese of Brisbane is a Latin Church Metropolitan Diocese, metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia located in Brisbane and covering the South East Queensland, South East region of Queensland, Australia. Part of the ...

from 2022–2024. A member of the

Society of the Divine Word The Society of the Divine Word (), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men. As of 2020, i ...

, he previously served as the Provincial Superior of the order for Australia between 2005 and 2013.

Early life

Norton was born in Sydney in 1958 to Joseph and Dawn Norton (née Spillane). He has an older brother Chris and a younger sister, Julie. He attended Marist Brothers Eastwood, where the school's chaplain was a Divine Word Missionary who had previously lived in India for 30 years. He took a trip to India during his final year of high school, which he later said was influential in discerning his vocation. After graduating, he commenced tertiary studies for a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physiotherapy at Cumberland College of Health Sciences, Sydney. He worked as a physiotherapist and worked with young street people in Darlinghurst who were experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health issues. He entered the seminary when he was 25 and moved to Mexico to continue his studies at the age of 28. In 1985, he entered the Society of the Divine Word and in 1990, professed his final vows.

Priesthood

Norton was ordinated a priest at St Kevins, Eastwood on 2 March 1991. Immediately following his ordination, he returned to Mexico City to serve as parish vicar until 1996. He became the director of the SILOAM Spiritual Programme between 1997 and 1998. He then served as head of formation and prefect of the Scholastics in Melbourne (1998-2000, 2002–2004) and director of the noviciate in Sydney (2001-2002). From 2005 to 2013, Norton served as the Provincial Superior for Australia for the Society of the Divine Word. From 2014, until his episcopal appointment, he was the head of formation and director of the Ad Gentes Centre in Nemi, Italy.

Episcopate

Norton was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane 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 11 November 2021, and was given the titular see of Madaurus in Algeria. He was consecrated by Archbishop

Mark Coleridge Mark Benedict Coleridge (born 25 September 1948) is an Australian Catholic prelate who has served as Metropolitan Archbishop of Brisbane since 2012. He previously served as Archbishop of Canberra–Goulburn (2006–2012) and as an auxiliary ...

on 22 February 2022, in the

Cathedral of St Stephen, Brisbane The Cathedral of St Stephen is the heritage-listed cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane and seat of its archbishop in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. St Stephen's was only meant to serve as a temporary seat for the ar ...

. On 14 October 2024, he was appointed as bishop of Broome by Pope Francis.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Tim Living people 1958 births Australian Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Sydney 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia