Città del Vaticano (Agenzia Fides) – Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, on 1 November 2015, appointed as the new National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Australia, for a five year term, Rev. Brian Joseph Lucas of the Archdiocese of Sydney.
The new National Director, born 18 May 1952 was ordained a priest for the archdiocese of Sydney on 16 August 1980. He studied law at the University of Sydney; theology at the Catholic Institute of Sydney; communications pastoral at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Roma. Since his ordination he has served as follows: assistant parish priest in a number of parishes, archdiocesan secretary and bursar, and since 2002 he has been general secretary of the Australian Bishops’ Conference. He has been a member of various church bodies working in the field of education and communications and has published several books. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 1/03/2016)