Richard Umbers (bishop)

Richard James Umbers (born 17 March 1971)^[1] is an Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. He is currently the youngest Catholic bishop in Australia,^[2] and is also the first priest of Opus Dei to be appointed a bishop in Australia.^[3] He was consecrated by Bishop Anthony Fisher, together with Bishop Anthony Randazzo, at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney on 24 August 2016.^[4]

Bishop Umbers was born in Otahuhu, New Zealand on 17 March 1971 to Declan and Mary Umbers, the youngest of five children and brother to Anthony, Andrew, Gregory and Margaret, and was raised in Papatoetoe.^[5] He originally studied management at the University of Waikato in 1989 but transferred to University of Sydney in 1992 to receive more intense formation at a Centre of Opus Dei in Chatswood, New South Wales. He later qualified with a Bachelor of Economics from University of Sydney and a Masters of Management from the University of Waikato, New Zealand.^[6]

Bishop Umbers entered the Opus Dei Seminary of Cavabianca, Rome in 1996 and studied at Santa Croce Pontifical University, Rome, achieving a Bachelor of Theology in 1999. Between 1999-2002, Bishop Umbers studied at the University of Navarre, Spain where he received a Doctorate in Philosophy. On 14 February 2002 he was ordained a deacon,^[6] and was subsequently ordained a priest by Bishop Javier Echevarría, Prelate of Opus Dei, on 1 September 2002 at the Marian shrine of Torreciudad, Spain.^[7]

Bishop Umbers has been based in Sydney since 2003. He has been chaplain of several educational initiatives including Warrane College UNSW (2003-04; 2012-16^[8]) and Creston College (2012-16), residential colleges affiliated with the University of New South Wales, and Redfield College (2005-11), a school of the PARED Foundation.^[7][9] He has been a Lecturer for the Centre for Faith, Ethics and Society at the University of Notre Dame Australia.^[10] Bishop Umbers was most recently a representative of the Archbishop on the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese of Sydney and a member representative for the Archdiocese to the St John of God Hospitals.^[6]

Bishop Umbers is widely published in the area of philosophy, regularly addresses gatherings of youth, has an interest in social media and has a library of his own podcasts.^[6]

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