Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen, 54, begins his new role after serving as a Conventual Franciscan since 1989 and as auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne since 2011.

Parramatta, in western Sydney, is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in Australia and is a favourite destination for new migrants.

"Coming to Australia by boat as a refugee from Vietnam, I found myself a newcomer in Melbourne. I now consider myself a newcomer to the diocese of Parramatta," Bishop Long said.

"My appointment is not just about me or an individual honour, but it's an affirmation and recognition on the part of the universal Church of the gifts and contributions that migrants and refugees can make to the Church and also to society," Bishop Long said.

"It has a strong and relevant message to the nation at this point in time as we tend to be a bit less welcoming to people who arrive by boat."

Bishop Long initially felt a calling to the priesthood as a teenager and he studied in a seminary near Saigon.

In 1975, Vietnam's new rulers started closing religious training colleges and Bishop Long followed two older brothers and fled overseas.

He escaped on a 17-metre boat jam-packed with 147 refugees.

"Our boat journey was risky. There were more people on board than the boat could carry safely. By the third day, we had run out of food, water and fuel. From then on, we were at the mercy of the elements. On the seventh day, we drifted near an oil rig, half alive and half dead," he said in an interview with the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference in 2015.

The bishop and the family members he travelled with were rescued and settled in a refugee camp in Malaysia, where he stayed for 16 months.

During his time in the camp, he taught himself English.

He was accepted to go to Australia in 1981.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• Sydney Morning Herald
• Image: Catholic Herald

51 elders from the North trekked across the ditch to Parramatta for the celebrations, which recognise an enduring relationship between their ancestor Ruatara and the Anglican minister Samuel L Marsden.

Early in the 19th century Marsden set up a school and farm to be used by his Maori visitors.

The site he chose was in the area surrounding what is now the the Rangihou Reserve, originally the territory of the Barramattagal clan of the Darug people.

As early as 1805, Maori were coming to Australia, such as Te Pahi, so regularly it was noted that "The Colony is never free from some of those Natives".

Another chief Kawiti Tiitua was perplexed and dissapointed by the general lack of engagement and hospitality offered by Europeans in Parramatta.
Source

• Discover Parrematta
• rangihou.wordpress.com
• MaoriTelevision
• parramattaheritage.blogspot.co.nz
• Image:arc.parracity.nsw.gov.au

In his first news conference last week, Archbishop-elect Anthony Fisher, OP, said he was determined to do everything he could to make sure the abuse didn't happen again.

To the survivors of abuse and to the Church's youth, Archbishop Fisher said: "To both of them I say, no excuses, no cover-ups. I am ashamed and I'm sorry for where we've failed you in the past."

He said victims have to be put first.

"It's been harrowing to listen to the stories of the survivors of abuse as I have done here as Bishop of Parramatta," he said.

"The Catholic Church in Australia is going through a period of public scrutiny and self-examination," he said.

"I hope it will emerge from this purified, humbler, more compassionate and spiritually regenerated."

But victims' advocates in Australia believe the new archbishop will be little different in this area from his predecessor, the combative Cardinal George Pell.

Victims' advocates cited "callous" comments Fisher made at World Youth Day in 2008, when he said the parents of two abuse victims, one of whom who had subsequently committed suicide, were "dwelling angrily on old wounds".

The Vice-Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, Professor Greg Craven, said Fisher was referring to journalists in that remark.

But Nicky Davis of SNAP said: "Many survivors believe the only place where we will be first under Bishop Fisher is in media statements, mentioned dismissively with an insincere apology, and then ignored."

A former lawyer, Archbishop-elect Fisher was ordained as a Dominican priest in 1991.

He was appointed auxiliary bishop in Sydney in 2003 and has been Bishop of Parramatta since 2010.

He also founded the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne and was co-ordinator of WYD2008.

Archbishop-elect Fisher, who was appointed to his new role last week by Pope Francis, said he wants to build on the strong foundation left by Cardinal Pell.

The new archbishop said the Church has a role in helping a nation of migrants live together.

One day after being named archbishop, he said he would try to meet Muslim leaders in Sydney after the anti-terror raids.

He said faith leaders had to play a role in ensuring calm and harmony.

Sources

• The Guardian
• Sydney Morning Herald
• ABC
• SBS
• Image: SBS

The inquiry is in response to widespread media reports about the activities of a so-called Father F — which have also prompted calls for a royal commission into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Australia.

The alleged abuse occurred in the dioceses of Armidale and Parramatta in the 1980s. Mr Antony Whitlam, the son of former prime minister Gough Whitlam, is a former federal Labor politician.

The dioceses said they did not intend the inquiry to supplant or replace any investigations the police or other authorities might undertake.

Father F, who has not been publicly named for legal reasons, reportedly admitted he "sexually interfered with" five boys aged about 10 or 11 between 1982 and 1984.

He made this admission during a 1992 meeting with three senior Sydney clergy — Father Brian Lucas (now general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference), Father Wayne Peters (now vicar-general of Armidale) and Father John Usher (now chancellor of Sydney archdiocese).

Conflicting accounts of the meeting have emerged since the story first aired on the ABC's Four Corners television programme. Father Lucas said admissions of "wrongdoing" were made, but Father F did not name his victims so the Church did not advise the police.

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney said he had been unaware of the meeting until contacted by the ABC. "I sought details and Monsignor Usher informed me, after contacting Father Lucas and Monsignor Peters, that the recollection of the three priests was that no admissions of actual criminal conduct were made at that meeting."

Father F had his priestly faculties removed in 1992 and was laicised in 2005. He now lives in Armidale diocese.

Two of the boys he allegedly abused reportedly received substantial compensation payments from the Church but later committed suicide.

Sources:

Sydney Morning Herald

Diocese of Parramatta

ABC

Image: ABC