Although retiring, Bishop Peter Ingham says he’ll retain a presence in the Wollongong diocese.
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Bishop Ingham, 77, has served as a bishop for 25 years, including the last 16 in Wollongong.
“I’ve been blown away by the affirmation that people have given me,” the region’s Catholic leader said of his final days as Bishop of Wollongong.
“I suppose for 16-and-a-half years I’ve been around, they know me, and I’ve confirmed so many of their children, visited their schools and parishes.
“People wonder what priests do, but it’s the influence that you can have on people to help them in their life and encourage them.
“It’s really been quite an exciting journey through the years… I hope I’ve encouraged some people in their faith.”
However, he said retirement doesn’t mean he won’t still be doing ministry.
Bishop Ingham will remain a member of the clergy in his next role as Emeritus Bishop.
“You’re not getting rid of me,” he joked at Sunday’s farewell mass.
He said he will be based at his family home in Sydney, but would be “back and forth”, and retain a presence in the diocese.
The Diocese of Wollongong takes in the Illawarra, Macarthur, Shoalhaven and the Southern Highlands.
“(Being Emeritus Bishop means) I’m still a bishop, and I can still do service in the diocese.
“I need to get away from here to let the new bishop find his way – he doesn’t want me looking over his shoulder,” he laughed.
Last November, Father Brian Mascord was appointed the fifth Bishop of Wollongong.
The Catholic Diocese of Wollongong recently announced that on Thursday, February 22, Bishop-elect Fr Mascord will be ordained.
It will be the first ordination of a bishop in the Diocese of Wollongong for some 22 years.
Bishop Ingham was already an auxiliary bishop when he was installed as the fourth Bishop of Wollongong 16 years ago.
Parish farewells the bishop
It was a packed house at Bishop Peter Ingham’s farewell mass at St Francis Xavier Cathedral, Wollongong on Sunday.
Bishop Ingham has also served as parish priest for the Lumen Christi Catholic Parishes (the pastoral region comprising the parishes of Wollongong, Fairy Meadow and Gwynneville).
The parish mass was the last of a series of farewell services for him throughout the Wollongong diocese.
Among those in attendance was former Illawarra resident Kassandra Hobbs, 31, who now lives in Canberra. She helped as a server at the farewell mass.
Mrs Hobbs was a youth representative at the cathedral while living in Wollongong. She first met Bishop Ingham in 2001 while she was a year 10 student at St Mary Star of the Sea College, and said he had been “very influential” in her life.
“He’s been one of those people who’s been a constant, been very supportive of especially female servers in the diocese, and very supportive of our youth.”