Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett
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CATH NEWS REPORT: Pope Benedict has approved the retirement of Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane and appointed Lismore's Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett as Apostolic Administrator for the archdiocese, said a report on the Courier-Mail and media statements from the archdiocese.
The appointment was last night met with surprise by some Catholics, who had expected a permanent replacement or an administrator to be appointed from within the state, said the Courier-Mail report.Bishop Jarrett, who turns 74 this year, will administer the archdiocese until the Pope appoints a permanent replacement. He practised as an Anglican priest before moving to the Catholic Church in 1965.
"After 25 years as Bishop and 20 as Archbishop I am not as active as I used to be,'' Archbishop Bathersby said in a statement.
"It has been a privilege and a lasting joy to have been Archbishop in Brisbane with so many excellent bishops, priests, deacons, religious, friends and lay people.
"I thank in a special way the auxiliary bishops when I came to Brisbane, and the hard working auxiliaries of the present. I welcome my replacement Apostolic Administrator of Brisbane, Most Rev Geoffrey Jarrett, Bishop of Lismore, and assure him of my support and assistance, if needed.''
Archbishop Bathersby will leave Brisbane for his hometown of Stanthorpe in the coming weeks, where his brother Michael and sister Carmel live.
"I have no doubt my friendships over many years in Brisbane and Stanthorpe will remain strong,'' he said.
"I will ensure that my prayers and good wishes will be directed at the huge number of people I have met over many years in Australia and the world. I am a lucky person indeed. I thank all those people in the archdiocese who helped me enormously. May God bless them forever.''http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=29086
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