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Denis Hart

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The Most Reverend

Denis James Hart
Archbishop Emeritus of Melbourne
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
ArchdioceseMelbourne
SeeMelbourne
Appointed22 June 2001
Installed1 August 2001
Term ended29 June 2018
PredecessorGeorge Pell
SuccessorPeter Comensoli
Previous post(s)
Orders
Ordination22 July 1967
by Arthur Francis Fox
Consecration9 December 1997
by George Pell
Personal details
Born
Denis James Hart

(1941-05-16) 16 May 1941 (age 83)
East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
ResidenceSaint Patrick's Cathedral
Alma mater
MottoConstant in Faith
Ordination history of
Denis Hart
History
Priestly ordination
Ordained byArthur Francis Fox (Sale)
Date22 July 1967
PlaceSt Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecratorGeorge Pell (Melbourne)
Co-consecratorsFrank Little (Melbourne emeritus)
Hilton Forrest Deakin (Melbourne aux.)
Date9 December 1997
PlaceSt Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Denis Hart as principal consecrator
Mark Coleridge19 June 2002
Christopher Prowse19 May 2003
Peter Elliott30 April 2007
Timothy Costelloe15 June 2007
Les Tomlinson17 June 2009
Vincent Long Van Nguyen23 June 2011
Paul Bird16 October 2012
Terence Curtin17 December 2014
Mark Stuart Edwards17 December 2014
Patrick O'Regan26 February 2015
Styles of
Denis James Hart
Reference styleThe Most Reverend
Spoken styleYour Grace or My Lord Archbishop
Religious styleArchbishop

Denis James Hart (born 16 May 1941) is a retired Australian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Melbourne from 2001 to 2018.

Early years and background

Hart was born in East Melbourne, Victoria, the eldest of the three children of Kevin and Annie Hart. He was educated at St John's Marist Brothers in Hawthorn and Xavier College in Kew. He studied for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College from 1960 to 1967.

Ordained at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, in 1967, Hart served as a hospital chaplain, an assistant parish priest and then master of ceremonies at St Patrick's Cathedral. He supervised the preparation of the books used in worship, including the lectionary for Mass. He was liturgy director and assistant master of ceremonies for the 1986 papal visit to Australia.[1] In 1987 Hart became a parish priest and in 1996 he became vicar general and moderator of the archdiocese's 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 in the Archdiocese of Melbourne.[1] [1]

Archbishop

In 2001, Hart was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne, replacing George Pell who became the Archbishop of Sydney. On 29 June 2001, he received the pallium from Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square.[1]

Within the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, he was a member of the permanent committee from 2002, chairman of the Bishops' Commission for Administration and Information (2002-2012), member of the Bishops' Commission for Liturgy (1998-2012) and vice president of the conference (2010-2012). He has been chair of the ad hoc committee for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross since 2010.[2] In May 2012, he was elected president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference for two years.[3] He has been a member of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy since 2003 and its vice president (2010-2014). He took part in the Oceania Synod and ad limina visits in 1998, 2004 and 2011. In 2007, Hart expressed that he was troubled by the remarks of St Patrick's Cathedral priest Geoff Baron.[4]

During 2016, Hart urged schools to be sensitive and respectful to students who want to invite a same-sex date to school dance nights. "These are quite often emotional situations and it's very important that we always have respect for the dignity of the human being involved", he said when Fairfax asked for his response to a previously unreported case at the Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy.[5]

He was appointed a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.[6]

Pope Francis accepted his resignation on 29 June 2018.[7]

Hart requested a Melbourne parish priest stand down while the priest was investigated by civil authorities for allegedly violating child safety laws.[8]

Controversies

In 2009 during a court case, Hart was accused of having told a woman to "Go to hell, bitch" when she had knocked on his door in the middle of the night in 2004.[9][10] On the ABC on 14 November 2013, Hart acknowledged making the comment, then immediately asserting that he always followed the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. He apologised for it and described it as unfortunate.[11]

In May 2013, Hart appeared at a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse. He commented, in regard to why it took 18 years to have a priest laicised for sexually abusing children, "Better late than never."[12]

On 15 August 2017, Hart stated that if the law was changed to require clergy to report child sexual abuse learned of during confessionals, he would break the law and not report such abuse.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Biography of Archbishop Denis J. Hart". Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. 2010. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne: Church in Melbourne, Australia Archbishop Biography". www.cam.org.au.
  3. ^ Link text
  4. ^ "Swearing priest suspended". 31 July 2007.
  5. ^ Dobbin-Thomas, Marika (22 January 2016). "Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart gives green light to gay couples at Catholic school formals" – via The Age.
  6. ^ "Rinunce e nomine". press.vatican.va.
  7. ^ "Pope replaces Australian prelate who opposes sex abuse norm". uk.news.yahoo.com. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Parish priest stood down over child safety concerns". 12 June 2018.
  9. ^ McKenzie, Nick (11 August 2009). "Sex abuse victim told to 'go to hell'". The Age. Australia. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  10. ^ Lauder, Simon (11 August 2009). "Archbishop told abuse victim to 'go to hell': report". AM (ABC radio). Australia. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  11. ^ "Archbishop apologises for Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse", Lateline, ABC website, 14 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Better late than never", The Australian newspaper.
  13. ^ "Why an archbishop and a priest wouldn't report a confession to police". ABC. 15 August 2017.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Archbishop of Melbourne
2001–2018 		Succeeded by
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