For other persons named Anthony/Tony Fisher, see Tony Fisher

Tony Fisher

Tony Fisher is the name of:* Tony Fisher , American football player* Tony Fisher , British rugby footballer* Big Tony Fisher, bassist for American funk band Trouble Funk-See also:* Anthony Fisher, Australian Catholic archbishop...

Bishop Anthony Fisher is the Catholic Bishop of Parramatta, NSW Australia and a friar of the Order of Preachers (‘Dominicans’). He was installed as the third Bishop of Parramatta on 4 March 2010, having previously served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

Early life and education

Anthony Fisher was born in 1960 at the Mater Hospital, Sydney in Crows Nest

Crows Nest, New South Wales

Crows Nest is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Crows Nest is located 5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.-History:...

, Sydney. He is the eldest of five children born to Gloria Maguregui — a Spanish Basque

Southern Basque Country

The Southern Basque Country is a term used to refer to the Basque territories within Spain as a unified whole.It does not exist as a political unit but includes the three provinces and two enclaves of the Basque Autonomous Community in the west, as well as the Chartered Community of Navarre to...

 who migrated with her family to Australia from China and the Philippines in the 1950s — and Colin Fisher, a pharmacist from Ashfield, Sydney. He was baptised at St Therese Church, Lakemba

Lakemba, New South Wales

Lakemba is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lakemba is located 15 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canterbury....

, and attended the parish school in 1965 and 1966. The Fisher family lived in Belmore, Canterbury and Wiley Park before moving to Longueville and Manly.

He attended St Michael’s Primary School Lane Cove, Holy Cross College

Holy Cross College Ryde

Holy Cross College is a Catholic high school in the suburb of Gladesville in Sydney, Australia established in the tradition of the Patrician Brothers.- History and Tradition :...

 at Ryde, and Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview where he was dux in 1977. He studied in the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

 for six years, obtaining degrees in History (with honours) and Law before practising law in Sydney.

Religious life, priesthood and academic life

In 1985 he entered the Dominicans — a religious order dedicated to preaching the Catholic faith in the context of a life of study, prayer and community. He studied for the priesthood in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, receiving an honours degree in theology. He worked for a time at Uniya

Uniya

Uniya Jesuit Social Justice Centre was a small, Sydney-based centre for social justice and human rights research, advocacy, education and networking. The centre operated from 1989 until May 2007....

, a centre for social research in Kings Cross

Kings Cross, New South Wales

Kings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney...

, on immigration and refugee issues, and at Holy Name Parish in Wahroonga

Wahroonga, New South Wales

Wahroonga is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wahroonga is located 22 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire....

, Sydney. He was ordained a priest at Holy Name Church, Wahroonga, by Bishop Eusebius Crawford OP, Bishop of Gizo, on 14 September 1991.

Then-Fr Fisher undertook doctoral studies in bioethics at the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 until 1995. His D.Phil. was granted for a thesis on Justice in the Allocation of Healthcare. His academic life has included lecturing in Australia and overseas, and publishing many books and articles on bioethics and morality. From 1995 to 2000 he was a lecturer in the Australian Catholic University

Australian Catholic University

Australian Catholic University is a national public university. It has six campuses and offers programs in five faculties throughout Australia.-History:...

 in Melbourne.

From 2000 to 2003 he was the foundation director of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family — a post-graduate pontifical institute with nine campuses around the world. The principal work of the Institute is in teaching and research at the cutting edge of questions concerning respect for human life and the dignity of the person, and support for marriage and family life. Bishop Fisher remains Professor of Bioethics and Moral Theology in the Institute.

He is also Deputy-Chancellor of the Catholic Institute of Sydney and Adjunct Professor of Bioethics at the University of Notre Dame Australia

University of Notre Dame Australia

The University of Notre Dame Australia is a private Roman Catholic university established in 1989 in the Western Australian port city of Fremantle, . While the University of Notre Dame Australia has "strong collegial links" with the American University of Notre Dame located in Notre Dame, Indiana,...

.

In the Dominican Order at the time of his episcopal appointment Fisher was the Master of Students (seminarians) and Socius (deputy) to the Prior Provincial of Australia and New Zealand. In the Melbourne Church, he was Episcopal Vicar for Healthcare, spokesman for the Church on matters of ethics, visiting lecturer in the Catholic Theological College, and secretary to the Senate of Priests.

His community involvements have included being Chaplain to the Parliament of Victoria

Parliament of Victoria

The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of The Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria; the Legislative Council ; and the Legislative Assembly...

, a member of the Infertility Treatment Authority of Victoria, chair or member of several hospital ethics committees, and a chaplain to various organisations such as the Order of Malta. He has also had various engagements in parish life and the pastoral care of the handicapped and the dying.

Episcopate

He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney in 2003, being ordained bishop by George Pell

George Pell

George Pell AC is an Australian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the eighth and current Archbishop of Sydney, serving since 2001. He previously served as auxiliary bishop and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne...

 in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, on 3 September 2003. Bishop Fisher was Parish Priest of Watsons Bay and Episcopal Vicar for Life and Health in the Archdiocese of Sydney. He also is a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Australian Bishops' Commission for Doctrine and Morals.

Bishop Fisher was named Bishop of Parramatta by Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

on Friday, 8 January 2010, and was installed as the third Bishop of Parramatta on 4 March 2010 in St Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta.