Timothy Costelloe


Timothy John Costelloe SDB, an Australian metropolitan bishop, is the ninth Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Perth, Western Australia, appointed in February 2012.

Biography

Educated in Melbourne at St Peter’s, East Bentleigh and at Salesian College, Chadstone, Costelloe commenced teacher training at Christ College, Melbourne before joining the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1977, and graduated from Christ College in 1978. Professed as a Salesian in 1985, Costelloe was ordained as a priest on 25 October 1986 by Archbishop Sir Frank Little in Melbourne.
After three years at Salesian College, Chadstone, he was transferred to Rome where he completed a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Salesian Pontifical University in 1991. On his return to Melbourne, Costelloe began lecturing in theology at Catholic Theological College in Melbourne. Transferred to Perth in 1996, Costelloe served as parish priest St. Joachim's, Victoria Park, and lectured at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle. He completed his doctorate in Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity. He returned to Melbourne in 1999, was appointed as Rector to the Salesian community, and resumed teaching commitments at the Catholic Theological College, and was appointed as parish priest of St. John the Baptist, Clifton Hill, in 2006 and as parish priest of the adjoining St. Joseph's, Collingwood in 2007. During this period Fr Costelloe also held a number of senior positions in the Salesian order.

Episcopate

In April 2007 Costelloe was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne and Titular Bishop of Clonard. He was consecrated on 15 June 2007
With a strong interest in Catholic education, Costelloe held a number of senior roles in the Melbourne archdiocese, including being the Episcopal Vicar for Tertiary Education and the Chair of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria. An adjunct professor at the Australian Catholic University, he is also a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Commission for Catholic Education.
In February 2012 it was announced that Costelloe would succeed Barry Hickey as Archbishop of Perth; and on 21 March 2012 he was installed as archbishop in a liturgical ceremony at St Mary's Cathedral, Perth.