Melbourne News

Fr Bird ordained as the eighth Bishop of Ballarat

Thursday 18 October 2012

IN a joyful ceremony at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Ballarat on Tuesday 16 October 2012, Fr Paul Bird CSsR was ordained as the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Ballarat. His Grace Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne was the Principal Consecrator with Co-consecrators Most Rev Peter Connors, Bishop Emeritus of Ballarat and Most Rev Les Tomlinson, Bishop of Sandhurst. Concelebrating were 30 Bishops and 100 priests. The cathedral was filled to capacity and another large group of people watched the event live on a big screen in the adjacent St. Patrick’s Hall.
 
Addressing the people at the end of the Mass, Bishop Bird commented: “My appointment as bishop of Ballarat was announced on 1 August, the feast of St Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorists. Today is the feast of another Redemptorist saint, Gerard Majella. I feel a great sense of support in the prayers of these saintly confreres who have gone before us.” Witnessing the Ordination were many Redemptorists, both religious and lay, who had travelled from around Australia and overseas to be in Ballarat with their recently retired Province Leader as he became Bishop.
 
The music of the Ordination Mass was under the musical direction of Mr Roger Hillman, Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts at Australian Catholic University, Ballarat, with choir and instrumentalists assembled especially for the occasion. Fittingly the sung parts of the Mass were from the Mass of St. Alphonsus, composed by the new Bishop himself in preparation for the introduction of the new translation of the Roman Missal.
 
In a deeply moving moment, Bishop Connors, who retires after 15 years of service as Bishop of Ballarat, handed the crozier to Bishop Bird. Together they walked around the Cathedral as Bishop Bird blessed all who were there.
 
In his address, Bishop Bird said: “When Jesus met his disciples after his resurrection, he said to them: ‘Peace be with you.’ I have chosen these words of Christ as my motto as bishop. I hope my ministry will foster the peace of Christ – the kind of peace that is built on justice and crowned by love. I pray that each one of you might be blessed with this peace. I pray that each person and each parish in this diocese might know this peace of Christ. I pray that each person in our troubled world might come to know such peace in their hearts and in their communities.”

Photos by Trav Munro