Auxiliary bishops

Born in 1953 at Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland, as the eldest of eleven children of John and Eileen Ashe (nee Sullivan), Martin Ashe spent his early education with the Sisters of Mercy and at St Brendan’s College in Killarney, Co. Kerry.

He studied for the priesthood at the missionary College of All Hallows Dublin, and at the age of 24 was ordained for the Priesthood at the College by Most Rev Tomás Ó Fiaich on 11 June 1978.

It was customary for newly ordained priests from the College to be sent out into various parts of the world, and Fr Martin came to Australia in the September of that same year. His early appointments in the Archdiocese of Melbourne were to the parishes of Hadfield, Clayton and Blackburn. In the late 1980s he also served as Vocations Director for the Archdiocese and within the Marriage Tribunal.

In 1990, Fr Martin became a Moderator of Corpus Christi College Seminary at Clayton, and later Pastoral Director at the College. It was during this time he also undertook further studies at Loyola University in Chicago.

Following his time with the Seminary, Fr Martin was appointed Parish Priest of Sunbury in 1997, and in 2005 was also appointed the Director of Ministry to Priests in the Archdiocese.

After a period as Administrator to the Parish of Maidstone/Braybrook, Bishop Ashe took up an appointment in 2012 as Parish Priest for the newly formed Parish of Christ the Light, which takes in the areas of Doreen, Kinglake, Mernda and Whittlesea; and where he remains Parish Priest today.

Fr Martin became Episcopal Vicar for the Northern Region in 2012 in addition to his ministry as Parish Priest, and has held ongoing roles with the Archdiocesan Personnel Advisory Board, the Archbishop’s Council of Priests, the College of Consultors, and the Committee for the Ongoing Formation of Clergy.

For his own life, Bishop Ashe finds great inspiration in the life of St Therese of Lisieux and is inspired by her courage and her desire to be a missionary and to be ‘love at the heart of the Church for the world’.

On 31 July 2021, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli at St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne.

Bishop Ashe is Auxiliary Bishop for the Western Region.

Bishop Ireland was born and grew up in Melbourne.

He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Francis Little at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne, on 19 September 1987.

He served in a number of parishes and undertook further studies, and later lectured in Moral Theology at Catholic Theological College, where he was appointed Head of the Department of Moral and Practical Theology in 1997.

In 2005, he was appointed Dean of Studies at Corpus Christi College Seminary Carlton and appointed Rector of the College in 2006, a position he held until 2009.

Bishop Ireland was appointed Parish Priest of St Gregory the Great Doncaster; appointed Episcopal Vicar for Health and Aged Care; and appointed a Prelate of Honour (Monsignor) by Pope Benedict XVI.

Prior to his appointment as bishop, he was Episcopal Vicar for the Eastern Region of the Archdiocese.

Bishop Ireland holds the degrees of Bachelor of Theology from the University of Divinity, Master of Arts in Spiritual Theology from the Pontifical University of St Thomas (Rome), Licentiate in Sacred Theology (Moral Theology) from the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome), and Doctor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St Thomas (Rome).

On 31 July 2021, he was ordained to the episcopate by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne.

Bishop Ireland is Auxiliary Bishop for the Southern Region and Episcopal Vicar for Health, Aged and Disability Care. He serves the Archdiocese as a member the Council of Priests, the College of Consultors, the Curia, and the board of the Catholic Development Fund. He is the Chair of the Mannix College Council and Catholic Capital Grants Vic Ltd.

As a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Ireland is a member of the Bishops’ Commission for Catholic Education, a member of the National Catholic Education Commission and chairs the Episcopal Panel for Doctrine and Morals.

Born in 1973 in Saigon, Vietnam, to Hang Xuan Nguyen and Coi Thi Nguyen (nee Pham), Bishop Thinh Nguyen is the third youngest of nine brothers and four sisters.

Following his early education at Ket Doan, Saigon, Bishop Thinh arrived in Australia at 13 years of age, and took up secondary studies at Redden Catholic College in Preston Victoria. He later obtained a Bachelor of Building Engineering and a Diploma in Lighting Design while working with an engineering firm. In 1999, he entered Corpus Christi College Regional Seminary, Carlton, and was ordained for the priesthood by Archbishop Denis Hart on 16 September 2006 in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne.

Bishop Thinh has served in the Melbourne Archdiocesan parishes of Deer Park, Fitzroy and Bennettswood, and has also served as Chaplain to the Archdiocesan Office of Youth, Chaplain to the University of Melbourne, Formator at Corpus Christi College (Regional Seminary) and Assistant Vocations Director for the Archdiocese. He also holds a Master’s degree in Theological Studies, and a Master of Arts in Spirituality.

In 2022, Bishop Thinh was appointed Co-ordinator of Clergy, Life and Ministry, the Archdiocesan office that undertakes ongoing formation of clergy in the human, intellectual, pastoral and spiritual areas of their lives. With more than 200 active priests and deacons, and over 100 retired clergy, this substantial role enabled Fr Thinh to strengthen and support the clergy in finding their personal meaning in the midst of God’s people.

Bishop Nguyen is Auxiliary Bishop for the Eastern Region.

Born on 28 March 1969 in Gapan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, Bishop Rene Ramirez was ordained a priest in June 1998 after 13 years of seminary formation and having joined the Congregation of the Rogationists of the Heart of Jesus in May 1985. His first assignment as a priest was as the Vocation Director for his congregation in the Philippines.

From 1999 until early 2003, Fr Rene served as Administrator, Treasurer and Vice Rector at Rogationist College in Cavite City while pursuing a Master’s in Educational Management at De La Salle University in Dasmariñas City. He then moved to Rome in 2003 to complete his Licentiate studies in spirituality and earn a Diploma in Social Communications from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Upon returning to the Philippines in 2006, he was appointed Director of Social Communications and Spiritual Director for the seminary students of philosophy at Rogationist Seminary College in Parañaque City, where he also taught. From 2009 to 2015, he served as the Superior of St Hannibal Rogate Centre, which included the Communications Office, the Provincial House and the House for Rogationist Late Vocation Seminarians.

In Australia, Bishop Rene became the pastor of Holy Family Parish in October 2015, overseeing the Catholic communities of West Footscray, Maidstone and Braybrook within the Archdiocese of Melbourne. He played a crucial role in the amalgamation of the partnered parishes of Maidstone and Braybrook in 2018 and was actively involved in parish renewal through Ron Huntley Leadership Coaching.

In November 2023, he was assigned by his congregation to establish a new presence in the Diocese of Sandhurst as the Parish Priest of St Mel’s Parish in Shepparton South and St Malachy’s Parish in Nagambie. In January 2024, he was tasked by the Bishop of Sandhurst to be the Supervising Priest (Canon 517 §2) in Rushworth, which includes four Mass centres.

Bishop Ramirez is the Auxiliary Bishop for the Northern Region.