Max Leroy Davis

Last updated

The Most Reverend

Max Davis

AM
Coat of arms of Max Leroy Davis.svg
See Military Ordinariate of Australia
Installed22 August 2003
Term ended24 May 2021
Predecessor Geoffrey Mayne
Orders
Ordination31 October 1971
Consecration22 August 2003
by Geoffrey Mayne
Personal details
Born
Maxwell Leroy Davis

(1945-08-16) 16 August 1945 (age 79)
NationalityAustralian
Denomination Catholic

Maxwell Leroy Davis AM (born 16 August 1945) is a retired Catholic bishop who served as the bishop of the Catholic Military Ordinariate of Australia. [1]

Davis grew up in Perth. In his late teens, he served in the Royal Australian Navy in 1962–1964, later returning to Western Australia. Davis worked as a teacher at Saint Benedict's College in New Norcia in the late 1960s. [2] He was ordained in 1971. He worked as a chaplain in the Army reserves and as a priest in the Archdiocese of Perth. [3]

Davis was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1998 for service to the navy, particularly as Director General of Chaplaincy-Navy. [4]

On 16 July 2003, Davis was appointed bishop of the Australian Military Ordinariate. He was consecrated bishop on 22 August 2003 by Bishop Geoffrey Mayne with Archbishop Francis Patrick Carroll of Canberra and Goulburn and Archbishop Francesco Canalini, Apostolic Nuncio to Australia as co-consecratirs. [5]

In June 2014, Western Australian police charged Davis with having indecently assaulted a 13-year-old boy in 1969, before he had been ordained. Davis denied the charges and stood aside from his roles of office while the charges were heard. [6] On 7 August 2015, he pleaded not guilty, and a six-day trial was set down to start on 6 February 2016 in the District Court of Western Australia. [2] The six counts related to the period between December 1968 and October 1972 when Davis was dorm master at St Benedict's College at New Norcia. The Defence case accepted that the boys were abused, but denied that Davis was the culprit, identifying other (now dead) possible offenders. [7] He was acquitted of all charges on 15 February 2016. He returned to public ministry in December 2017. [8] [1]

Pope Francis accepted his resignation on 24 May 2021. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Church of Australia</span> Church of the Anglican Communion

The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the Roman Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Norcia, Western Australia</span> Town in Western Australia

New Norcia is a town in Western Australia, 132 km (82 mi) north of Perth, near the Great Northern Highway. It is situated next to the banks of the Moore River, in the Shire of Victoria Plains. New Norcia is the only monastic town in Australia, with its Benedictine abbey founded in 1848. The monks later founded a mission and schools for Aboriginal children. A series of Catholic colleges were created, with the school that became St Benedict's College in 1965 later gaining notoriety for being the site of sexual abuse that took place in the late 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA</span> Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction

The Archdiocese for the Military Services, U.S.A., officially the Military Ordinariate of United States of America, is a Latin Church jurisdiction of the Catholic Church for men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces and their dependents.

Denis James Hart is a retired Australian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Melbourne from 2001 to 2018.

Roger Adrian Herft is a former bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia. He was the Archbishop of Perth from 2005 to 2017. He was previously the Bishop of Newcastle from 1993 to 2005 and the Bishop of Waikato in New Zealand from 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Diocese of Perth</span> Diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia

The Anglican Diocese of Perth is one of the 23 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia. The constitution of the Diocese of Perth was passed and adopted in 1872 at the first synod held in Western Australia. In 1914, the Province of Western Australia was created and the diocesan bishop of Perth became ex officio metropolitan bishop of the new province and therefore also an archbishop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelo Bagnasco</span> Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church

Angelo Bagnasco is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Genoa from 2006 to 2020. He was President of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) from 2007 to 2017 and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2007. He was President of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE) from 2016 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Levada</span> American Catholic cardinal (1936–2019)

William Joseph Levada was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. From May 2005 until June 2012, he served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict XVI; he was the highest ranking American in the Roman Curia. He was previously the Archbishop of Portland in Oregon from 1986 to 1995, and then Archbishop of San Francisco from 1995 to 2005. While serving as archbishop, he was criticized for covering up sexual abuse by priests within his jurisdiction. Levada was created a cardinal in 2006 by Benedict XVI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth</span> Catholic ecclesiastical territory

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Perth is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia covering the Greater Perth, Goldfields-Esperance, Peel and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Hickey</span> Australian archbishop (born 1936)

Barry James Hickey OAM KC*HS an Australian metropolitan bishop, was the eighth Roman Catholic archbishop of the Archdiocese of Perth, Western Australia, serving from 1991 until his retirement in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Newton (prelate)</span> English Roman Catholic monsignor (born 1952)

Keith Newton is an English priest and prelate of the Catholic Church. Newton was named as the first ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham from 15 January 2011 to 29 April 2024, however he is not a Catholic bishop. Prior to his reception into the Catholic Church in 2011, Newton had been a priest and bishop of the Church of England; his last Anglican office was as Bishop of Richborough in the Province of Canterbury from 2002 to 31 December 2010.

A personal ordinariate for former Anglicans, shortened as personal ordinariate or Anglican ordinariate, is a canonical structure within the Catholic Church established in order to enable "groups of Anglicans" and Methodists to join the Catholic Church while preserving elements of their liturgical and spiritual patrimony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Diocese of the Australian Military Services</span> Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction

The Catholic Diocese of the Australian Military Services, is a military ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church immediately subject to the Holy See. It was established in 1969 and maintains its Chancery office in Canberra. It is a Diocese in its own right and not governed under any Diocese or Archdiocese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham</span> Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction for former Anglicans

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales is a personal ordinariate in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church immediately exempt, being directly subject to the Holy See. It is within the territory of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, of which its ordinary is a member, and also encompasses Scotland. It was established on 15 January 2011 for groups of former Anglicans in England and Wales in accordance with the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus of Pope Benedict XVI, which was supplemented with the Complementary Norms of Pope Francis in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter</span> Diocese-like institution of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or personal ordinariate of the Catholic Church for Anglican converts in the United States and Canada. It allows these parishioners to maintain elements of Anglican liturgy and tradition in their services. The ordinariate was established by the Vatican in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Costelloe</span> Australian prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1954)

Timothy John Costelloe, SDB is an Australian Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Perth since 2012. He is a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross</span> Catholic jurisdiction structure

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross is a personal ordinariate of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church primarily within the territory of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference. It is organized to serve groups of Anglicans who desire full communion with the Catholic Church in Australia and Asia. Personal ordinariates, like military ordinariates and dioceses, are immediately subject to the Holy See in Rome. The motto of the ordinariate is Mea Gloria Fides. The current apostolic administrator is Anthony Randazzo, who succeeded the second ordinary, Carl Reid, in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Entwistle</span> Australian priest

Harry Entwistle is an English-born Australian priest of the Catholic Church who was the first ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross (2012–2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Reid</span> Australian priest

Carl Leonard Reid is a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, who was the ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia until 21 April 2023 when his resignation was accepted. He is a former bishop of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, a Continuing Anglican church within the Traditional Anglican Communion; he was received into the Catholic Church in 2012 and was ordained a priest of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.

References

  1. 1 2 "I'll be home for Christmas" (PDF). Serving faithfully. Catholic Diocese of the Australian Defence Force. December 2017. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 Joanna Menagh (7 August 2015). "Army bishop to face trial on child sex charges in WA". ABC News. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  3. "From sailor to bishop". The Catholic Weekly . Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  4. "DAVIS, Max Leroy". It's an Honour. Government of Australia. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  5. Catholic-Hierarchy website Accessed 17 December 2020
  6. "Catholic Church's military diocese head bishop Max Davis charged with child sex". News Limited. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  7. "Bishop's New Norcia child sex allegations a 'mistake', court hears". WA Today. Fairfax Media. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  8. "WA bishop Max Leroy Davis acquitted of child sex abuse". WAtoday.com.au. Fairfax Media. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  9. "Rinunce e nomine, 24.05.2021" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
Preceded by Military Ordinary of Australia Succeeded by
vacant