Julian Porteous
Australian Catholic Archbishop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Julian Charles Porteous (born 5 June 1949) is a retired Australian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was previously the Catholic Archbishop of Hobart, Tasmania until his resignation on 20 June 2025. He was previously Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Australia, Episcopal Vicar for Renewal and Evangelisation, and Titular Bishop of Urusi (2003–2013).[1]
Julian Porteous | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop Emeritus of Hobart | |
Porteous in 2024 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Hobart |
| See | Hobart |
| Appointed | 19 July 2013 |
| Installed | 17 September 2013 |
| Term ended | 20 June 2025 |
| Predecessor | Adrian Leo Doyle |
| Previous posts |
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| Orders | |
| Ordination | 7 September 1974 by James Darcy Freeman |
| Consecration | 3 September 2003 by George Pell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Julian Charles Porteous 5 June 1949 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of Julian Porteous | |
|---|---|
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| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Grace |
| Religious style | Archbishop |
Ordination history of Julian Porteous | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Porteous was installed as Archbishop of Hobart on 17 September 2013.[2]
In 2015 Porteous distributed a booklet to 12,000 families with children in Catholic schools across Tasmania entitled "Don’t Mess With Marriage" - the Catholic position on marriage.[3] The booklet argued of gay men and women that "pretending that their relationships are ‘marriages’ is not fair or just to them." There were calls by activists for others to refer the Archbishop to the Australian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner. Following 6 months of deliberations, the complaint was withdrawn without a finding.[4][5][6]
It has been reported that, "The real problem with the Porteous case was that it was unresolved".[7]
In 2022 Porteous was accused of promoting climate change skepticism in a church publication titled "Exposing the 'modern green religion'", platforming the views of mining-industry affiliated geologist Professor Ian Plimer.[8] He attracted further accusations of discrimination in 2024 after publishing a public letter titled "We are Salt to the Earth", in which he denounced the "woke" movement and "radicalised transgender lobby".[9]
