Born in Scotland, Veronica came to Australia when a toddler. The family lived in Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria before settling in Glebe (Sydney). A career in education followed her joining the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. Then she turned her hand to parish ministry and adult faith education. After eight years of ministry in Kiribati, Sr Veronica returned to Australia to became Vocations Director for the Good Sams. In 2007, she took on the role of Executive Officer for the Catholic Vocations Ministry.
Bishop Fisher co-ordinated Sydney's World Youth Day 2008 and for the past seven years has been parish priest of Watsons Bay and an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Sydney. Bishop Manning was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the diocese when the announcement was made on January 8. He intends to retire to Glenbrook, in the Blue Mountains, helping out in parishes as required.
The Diocese of Parramatta has been described as contemporary urban Australia in miniature. It was separated from the Archdiocese of Sydney in 1986 and includes the shires of Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Parramatta and Penrith and parts of Wollondilly and Liverpool.
With one-third of the population identifying as Catholics in the last census, it is Australia's most Catholic area. The nearly 320,000 Catholics are served by 49 parishes, 76 systemic schools (54 primary and 22 secondary) and six congregational schools. Parishes date back to 1827 while the newest church was opened this month.