Michael Putney (bishop)

Michael Putney

AM
BornMichael Ernest Putney
(1946-06-20)20 June 1946
Gladstone, Queensland, Australia
Died28 March 2014(2014-03-28) (aged 67)
Townsville, Queensland, Australia
OccupationBishop

Michael Ernest Putney AM (20 June 1946 – 28 March 2014) was an Australian Roman Catholic bishop and a recognised leader of the ecumenical movement in Australia.[1][2]

Born in Gladstone, Queensland, Putney attended St Joseph's Convent in Townsville for his primary education, and Our Lady's Mount, also in Townsville, and St Columban's College in the Brisbane suburb of Albion for his secondary education.[3]

He trained for the priesthood at Pius XII Provincial Seminary at Banyo, and was ordained in 1969.[4] Putney was named titular bishop of Mizigi and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) in 1995. In 2001, Putney was named bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville, succeeding Bishop Raymond Conway Benjamin.

Putney was well known for his ecumenical outreach to other Christian denominations and was president of the National Council of Churches in Australia from 2009 to 2013. [5]

Putney was appointed Member of the Order of Australia in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the Catholic Church in Australia, to the promotion of inter-faith dialogue, and to the community of Townsville",[6] and his life and work is also remembered in the annual Bishop Michael Putney Lecture, sponsored by Queensland Churches Together and the Brisbane Roman Catholic Council for Ecumenism and Inter Religious Relations. [7]

  1. ^ "The Most Reverend Michael Ernest Putney". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 15 February 2024 – via Australian Government.
  2. ^ "Bishop Michael Ernest Putney". Monument Australia. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  3. ^ Profile Archived 12 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine, tsv.catholic.org.au; accessed 24 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Notice of death of Bishop Putney", catholicnewsagency.com; accessed 21 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Notice of death of Bishop Putney", catholicnewsagency.com; accessed 21 August 2014.
  6. ^ "The Most Reverend Michael Ernest PUTNEY". It's an Honour. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Michael Putney Memorial Lecture 2020 – Religions for Peace Australia".