Patrons

 

Principal Patron: Cardinal George Pell

“The inaugural John Paul II Australian Leaders Forum will be an important milestone for the Catholic Church in Australia. Catholic leaders continue to make significant contributions to our community, building up what Blessed John Paul II called “the civilisation of love”, but often do so working away quietly in their own areas of expertise. The John Paul II Australian Leaders Forum provides a great opportunity for leaders to come together and to learn from each other. I hope it will also strengthen the energy and commitment which sustains leaders in bearing witness to their faith, in serving their communities, and in renewing the culture”

 

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL was born in Ballarat, Australia, in 1941. He was ordained a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Ballarat in St Peter’s Basilica, Rome, in 1966.

In 1987 Cardinal Pell was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, and in 1996 he was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne. He was appointed Archbishop of Sydney in 2001, and elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals in 2003.

Cardinal Pell holds a Licentiate in Theology from Urban University, Rome (1967), a Masters in Education from Monash University, Melbourne (1982), and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Church History from the University of Oxford (1971). He was made a Companion in the Order of Australia in 2005.

Since 2001 Cardinal Pell has been a weekly columnist for Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph. His publications include Catholicism and the Architecture of Freedom (1999), Be Not Afraid (2004), and God and Caesar: Selected Essays on Religion, Politics and Society (2007). Cardinal Pell’s latest book, Test Everything: Hold Fast to What is Good, a collection of homilies and writings, was published in 2010.

 

Other patrons include:

Joseph De Bruyn  – National Secretary, Shop Distributive & Allied Employees Association (SDA)

Joseph became National Secretary-Treasurer of the Union in 1978 and has been re-elected every 4 years since. While in that role, he also held the position of NSW Branch Secretary of the SDA from 1984 to June 1996. He is also a member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Executive, the Australian Labour Party National Executive and the President of Union Network International.  He is also the Joint Chair of the Retail Employees Superannuation Trust.

 

Miranda Devine – Columnist News Limited

Miranda is a columnist with The Daily and Sunday Telegraph and News Limited newspapers around Australia. She previously worked for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Boston Herald. Miranda has a BSc in Mathematics and an MSc in Journalism. She sits on the boards of Aid to the Church in Need and The Catholic Weekly.

 

Bishop Anthony Fisher OP - Bishop of Parramatta

An Australian Dominican friar, Bishop Fisher is Professor of Moral Theology and Bioethics in the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family, Melbourne, and Adjunct Professor of Bioethics in the University of Notre Dame, Sydney. He has lectured and published widely on bioethics, sexual and family morality, human rights and other ethical and theological topics.

 

Archbishop Denis J. Hart – Archbishop of Melbourne

Ordained at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne on 22 July 1967, Hart served as a hospital chaplain, an assistant parish priest and then Master of Ceremonies at St Patrick’s Cathedral.  In 1987 Hart became a parish priest and in 1996 he became Vicar General and Moderator of the curia. He has served in the parishes of North Balwyn, North Richmond and West Brunswick. In 1997, he was consecrated a bishop and made an auxiliary bishop to the Archdiocese of Melbourne.  In 2001 Hart was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne, and on 29 June 2001, he received the pallium from Pope John Paul II in St Peter’s Square. In May 2012 he was elected President of the Conference for the next two years. He has been a member of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy since 2003 and its Vice President (2010-2014).

 

 Most Rev Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett – Bishop of Lismore

Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett was received into the Catholic Church 1965, studied for the priesthood of the Archdiocese of Hobart at St Peter Chanel Seminary at Toongabbie, NSW, and was ordained in Sydney by Archbishop Guilford Young in 1970.

During his 30 years’ ministry in Tasmania Bishop Jarrett was Administrator of St Mary’s Cathedral and a parish
priest in Hobart. He was active in ecumenical affairs as a member of the Executive of the Tasmanian Council of Churches and as Chaplain and Honorary Fellow of Jane Franklin Hall within the University of Tasmania. From 1994 to 1999 he was National Chairman of the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy.

Bishop Jarrett was appointed a bishop by Pope John Paul II in 2000, and his episcopal Ordination took place in
St Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore, on 22 February 2001. Within the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Jarrett is a member of the Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations.

 

Anthony J Macken AM KM KCOM – President, Australian Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Educated at St. Ignatius College, Riverview, Anthony J. graduated in Arts and Law at the University of Sydney and is the Principal of the National Australian Legal Practice A.J. Macken & Co.

At a ceremony in Melbourne on 3 May 2010 Anthony J. was awarded the Knights Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for services to Poland.
He is currently the President of the Australian Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) which he had earlier served as Chancellor.

 

James McKay- Executive Chairman and co-founder of Walcot Capital, Patrice McKay

James is Executive Chairman of and co-founded  Walcot
Capital in 2009 as a venture capital business specialising in early stage resource investments.  He is involved in a number of companies and is Chairman of ASX listed Comet Ridge Ltd and the former Chairman of ASX top 150 company Sunshine Gas Ltd prior to its takeover by Queensland Gas.

 

Patrice has a background in retail and management.  She
is involved with a number of business and community projects.

 

 

 

Karl Morris - Executive Chairman, Ord Minnett Ltd

Karl is the Executive Chairman of Ord Minnett Ltd, a specialist financial services business incorporating stockbroking, funds management and corporate finance.

Karl is on several Boards including the Stockbrokers Association of Australia which he is also a Master Member; the Sydney Catholic Development Fund; and the Queensland Theatre Company. Karl is also a Member of both the Sydney Archdiocesan Investment & Finance Committees and the Brisbane Archdiocesan Investment Committee. In addition, Karl is Director of RACQ; Director & Governor of Notre Dame University of Australia, and Patron of Bravehearts.

 

J.R. (John) Secker, FCIB, FFin, FAICD, KC*HS:

A lifelong banker John commenced his career in London 1964. In 1982 he moved to Australia where he held increasing senior banking roles until he retired in 2003 as Royal Bank of Canada’s country head for Australia and New Zealand.

John is active in wide range of organisations connected with the Catholic Church including: the Diocesan Development Fund Catholic; the Finance and Physical Resources Committee of the Catholic Education Office; the Finance Committee of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy Parramatta; the Parramatta Diocesan Central Council of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Lieutenant of the NSW Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.