
Will Brisbane’s new archbishop bring change?
Pope Leo XIV has made his first major Australian appointment, naming Bishop Shane Mackinlay as Archbishop of Brisbane.
Pope Leo XIV made his first major appointment to an Australian see Wednesday, naming Bishop Shane Mackinlay as the next Archbishop of Brisbane.

Mackinlay succeeds Archbishop Mark Coleridge, one of Australia’s most high-profile prelates, who has led the archdiocese covering South East Queensland since 2012.
Although Coleridge, 76, passed the typical retirement age for diocesan bishops in 2023, some Australian Church observers had expected him to remain in Brisbane longer into Leo XIV’s tenure.
In a June 18 statement, Coleridge praised his successor, describing Mackinlay as “an unusually gifted man,” who coped well “with both the big picture and the nuts and bolts.”
He suggested Mackinlay was a competent administrator with the skills to manage “a diocese as large and as complex as Brisbane.”
“Temperamentally, he is not easily flustered, having about him a poise that makes him a good driver in heavy traffic. That too will serve him well as Archbishop at a time when the traffic can be heavy,” Coleridge said.
“At 60 he is also of the right age and maturity to assume greater responsibility not only in Brisbane and Queensland but nationally and internationally.”
Who is Archbishop-elect Mackinlay? How does he compare to Coleridge? And what are the implications of his appointment to lead Australia’s second most populous diocese after the Archdiocese of Melbourne?
The Pillar takes a look.
Who is Shane Mackinlay?
Shane Anthony Mackinlay was born in Melbourne in 1965. His family moved 10 years later to the nearby city of Ballarat, where he excelled academically. He was dux — the highest performing student — in his final year at the prestigious St. Patrick’s College.
His scholarly achievements continued as he studied for the priesthood, gaining degrees in both theology and physics. Following his ordination as a priest of the Ballarat diocese in 1991, he earned a doctorate in philosophy at KU Leuven in Belgium.
His doctoral thesis developed into the book “Interpreting excess: Jean-Luc Marion, saturated phenomena, and hermeneutics,” published by Fordham University Press. (Marion is a French Catholic philosopher associated with the University of Chicago.)
Returning to Australia, Mackinlay picked up pastoral experience in parishes in the Ballarat diocese, as well teaching at Australian Catholic University’s Ballarat campus and Catholic Theological College, Melbourne.
In 2012, he took on the daunting role of spokesman for the Catholic Church during the state of Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-government organizations.
In 2019, Pope Francis named Mackinlay the Bishop of Sandhurst, a suffragan see of the Melbourne archdiocese.
His international profile rose when he was elected vice-president of the 2018-2022 Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, an initiative that influenced the global synodal process launched by Pope Francis.
Mackinlay is credited with resolving a crisis that threatened to derail the Plenary Council, when some participants threatened a walkout after the Australian bishops rejected a motion calling for women deacons.
According to one Australian Church source, who did not wish to be named, Mackinlay helped to steer the Plenary Council to a successful conclusion “with his bare hands and force of will.”
Mackinlay was one of Australia’s two official representatives at the 2023-2024 synod on synodality in Rome, where he gave a presentation on the Plenary Council. In the speech, he analyzed the walkout crisis, arguing that it led to an unexpected breakthrough.
“Many have since described the disruption and new possibilities that it opened as an experience of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “It certainly was an experience of parrhesia – both courageous speaking and humble listening; and there is no question that it was critical in enriching our communion.”
In October 2024, he was elected as Oceania’s representative on the commission drafting the synod on synodality’s final document, which was ultimately adopted by Pope Francis into his ordinary papal magisterium.
Mackinlay attended the fifth and final plenary assembly of the German synodal way, in 2023, as an international observer. After the synod on synodality, he praised the German Church’s contribution to the global process, describing it as “a great enrichment for all of us.”
Mackinlay was a supporter of Fiducia supplicans, the Vatican declaration on same-sex blessings, which appeared between the synod on synodality’s two sessions. While many Catholics argued that the document short-circuited the synod’s deliberations, Mackinlay suggested it was an early fruit of the synodal process.
“As with many things Pope Francis has done in the last year, he has not waited for the final document. He has already responded to things that were raised in the discussions and in the final report last year,” the bishop said in October 2024.
Mackinlay has faced local criticism in recent months over the installation of a controversial sculpture in his diocesan cathedral in Bendigo. In an event reminiscent of the Pachamama incident during the 2019 Amazon synod in Rome, the 220-pound sculpture was allegedly wheeled out of the cathedral on a trolley by an elderly man and two youths, and later found abandoned nearby.
Critics of the sculpture, which is called “Transcendence” and depicts a naked man and woman, claimed there was an occult reference in a text describing the inspiration for the work on the artist’s website.
Mackinlay said the reference was never made in the cathedral, only on the artist’s website, where it was later removed.
“This possibility is something that we take extremely seriously,” he commented.
Shortly after Mackinlay was named Archbishop of Brisbane, critics took aim at his theological outlook.
Bishop Joseph Strickland, whom Francis removed as Bishop of Tyler, Texas, in 2023, after a series of social media posts criticizing the pope, described the Australian as a supporter of women deacons.
“Appointing a bishop who holds such views to shepherd a major archdiocese is a source of scandal and division,” he said in a June 18 statement. “The faithful deserve clarity, not ambiguity; fidelity, not experimentation.”
But while Mackinlay might seem to have a sharp ideological profile, he has earned the respect of churchmen on other parts of the theological spectrum, who say they appreciate his intelligence and organizational skills.
Comparisons and implications
Archbishop-elect Mackinlay seems broadly to share the theological views of Archbishop Coleridge, who emerged on the international stage at the 2014-2015 family synod as an articulate English-speaking supporter of Pope Francis’ pastoral priorities.
Both Mackinlay and Coleridge are deeply committed to synodality and stress the importance of listening to lay Catholics, particularly those on the Church’s margins. In an initial visit to his new archdiocese, Mackinlay said that Coleridge was leaving a “strong legacy.”
As Coleridge noted when he welcomed Mackinlay’s appointment, the Brisbane archdiocese is large and complex (as well as an important contributor to Queensland’s economy). Some Australian observers suggest Mackinlay will be a more effective manager than his predecessor. Given that he’s 60, he will likely have at least 15 years in which to show whether that’s true.
Mackinlay’s move to Brisbane also likely has implications for the Australian Catholic University, which critics have repeatedly accused of diluting its Catholic identity.
In his capacity as president of the university’s corporation — the body at the top of its governance structure — Archbishop Coleridge has vigorously defended the ACU’s leadership against the accusation.
Sydney’s Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Melbourne’s Archbishop Peter Comensoli have sought a Vatican probe into the university. But Rome might be reluctant to intervene given the differences among the country’s archbishops.
As Archbishop of Brisbane, Mackinlay will automatically serve as a member of the corporation. Australian observers believe that Mackinlay will take the same line as Coleridge, meaning the episcopal stalemate over the ACU will probably continue.
Given that personnel is policy— flashing yellow light.
Poor Brisbane copping another Victorian refugee! Here’s hoping Mackinely’s administrative deftness is as good as his reputation would fortell. The ACU fiasco needs it.
But to American readers, your typical shorthand of liberal and conservative don’t quite neatly fit Australian theological or political dynamics. Brisbane was a bit of a hot bed for the Charismatic renewal that has now bifurcated into Tradismatic and ecumenial-woo-woo cultures that both seem to coexist relatively peacefully a long side each other. However, if you ask the traddier parishes in Brisbane if Vatican II is legit, they’d look at you like you had two heads. OF COURSE it’s legit and it’s the whole foundation their charismatic spirituality and their love of liturgy.
That’s my two cents.