Denis James Hart, DD

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....

 (born 16 May 1941 in East Melbourne

East Melbourne, Victoria

East Melbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, adjacent to Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, East Melbourne had a population of 4,330....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

) is a Roman Catholic bishop

Bishop (Catholic Church)

In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....

, elected as the 8th Archbishop

Archbishop

An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 of Archdiocese of Melbourne

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Erected initially in 1847 as the Diocese of Melbourne, a suffragan diocese of Archdiocese of Sydney, the diocese was elevated in 1874 as an archdiocese of the...

, since 2001.

Early years and background

Hart is the eldest of three children of Kevin James Hart and Annie Eileen Larkan. Educated at St John's Marist Brothers

Marist Brothers

The Marist Brothers, or Little Brothers of Mary, are a Catholic religious order of brothers and affiliated lay people. The order was founded in France, at La Valla-en-Gier near Lyon in 1817 by Saint Marcellin Champagnat, a young French priest of the Society of Mary...

, in Hawthorn

Hawthorn, Victoria

Hawthorn is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara...

 and at Xavier College

Xavier College

Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

, in Kew

Kew, Victoria

Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....

, he commenced study for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College

Corpus Christi College, Melbourne

Corpus Christi College is the regional seminary of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The seminary is administered by a board of Episcopal Trustees comprising the Archbishops of Melbourne and Hobart, the Bishops of Ballarat, Sandhurst and Sale, and the Auxiliary...

 between 1960 and 1967. Ordained at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne

St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne

St Patrick's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Denis J. Hart. The building is known internationally as a leading example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture.In 1974 Pope Paul VI...

 on 22 July 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

Lectionary

A Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.-History:...

 for liturgical mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

. He was Liturgy Director and Assistant Master of Ceremonies for the 1996 Papal Visit to Australia.

In 1987 Hart became a parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 priest and in 1996 he became Vicar General

Vicar general

A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...

 and Moderator of the curia. He has served in the parishes of North Balwyn

Balwyn North, Victoria

Balwyn North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara...

, North Richmond

Richmond, Victoria

Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...

 and West Brunswick

Brunswick West, Victoria

Brunswick West is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...

. In 1997 Hart was consecrated a bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 and made an auxiliary bishop

Auxiliary bishop

An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...

 to the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

Archbishop of Melbourne

In 2001 Hart was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne, replacing 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...

, who became Archbishop of Sydney

Catholic Bishops and Archbishops of Sydney

Sydney has had a Catholic Archbishop since 1842.-List of incumbents:# John Bede Polding OSB, 1842-1877.# Roger Bede Vaughan O.S.B., 1877-1883.# Patrick Francis Moran, 1884-1911.# Michael Kelly, 1911-1940.# Norman Thomas Gilroy, 1940-1971....

. On 29 June 2001 he received the pallium

Pallium

The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...

 from Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

 in St Peter's Square

Saint Peter's Square

Saint Peter's Square is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome .-History of St...

.

In a 2009 court case, Hart was accused of having told a woman to "Go to hell, bitch" after she had knocked on his door in middle of the night in 2004.