In Australia in recent months, there has been a great deal of anticipation around the appointment of new bishops to a number of dioceses, including three archdioceses — Perth, Hobart and Brisbane. Well, the first dominoes have started to topple, with the recent episcopal ordination of a new bishop in Armidale, the announcement of a new bishop for Sandhurst and last week’s announcement that Bishop Tim Costelloe, a Salesian, will take over in Perth from the retiring Archbishop Barry Hickey.

(When Bishop Barry Jones of Christchurch was named to succeed Bishop John Cunneen, I wondered if he might be the only Bishop Barry in the world; obviously not.)

There are a couple of smaller dioceses still waiting for new leaders, namely Wilcannia-Forbes and Toowomba, both of which had extraordinary circumstances surrounding the departure of their last bishops.

All eyes, though, are on Brisbane and, to a lesser extent, Hobart. With Archbishops Bathersby and Doyle respectively reaching the mandatory age of resignation — 75 — in recent months, the appointment of replacements is a topic of much discussion for Church wonks like me.

One of the names often thrown around as a possible Archbishop of Brisbane is my own new shepherd, Archbishop Mark Coleridge. A former Melbourne auxiliary bishop, as are Bishop Costelloe and the new Sandhurst Bishop Les Tomlinson, he has been in Canberra for a number of years. He previously served as a speechwriter and translator for Pope John Paul II, so he’s a very smart cookie and an accomplished man, especially in the area of Scripture.

There is no doubt that Archbishop Coleridge would be a good choice for Brisbane, because he knows the Church inside and out and is, in my estimation, an orthodox bishop who will seek to improve things in a diocese — and a state — where the Church seems to be struggling in a number of areas. But Archbishop Coleridge is also a pragmatist; a good trait for a bishop in the nation’s capital. I believe he would know that heading into a place like Brisbane offers a number of challenges and he would play a long game, rather than trying to arrive in town and shake up the landscape too quickly.

The skills of Archbishop Coleridge are widely recognised. When there were very strong rumours circulating that Cardinal George Pell of Sydney was going to be called to Rome to head a Vatican congregation, Archbishop Coleridge was on everyone’s short list as possible successors, and often at the top of those lists.

But my question is, would he see a move to Brisbane as a “promotion”? Now, I know that we shouldn’t look at vocational duties in such secular terms, but it’s hard not to. In larger countries, there is a promotional sequence. In the US, for example, one might go from bishop in a regional diocese to bishop in a city diocese to archbishop in a major metropolitan diocese.

Take new Cardinal Timothy Dolan as an example. Originally made an auxiliary bishop in St Louis, he later became Bishop of Milwaukee and now Cardinal Archbishop of New York. Archbishop Charles Chaput was first appointed to Rapid City, South Dakota (I’ve been there) before being promoted to Denver (been there, too) and last year Philadelphia.

I don’t think a move from Canberra to Brisbane for Archbishop Coleridge would be a promotion, and I think it would be a great loss to Canberra were he to move north. And that’s not out of a selfish desire for him to stay as head of my current home diocese. Well, not solely. Being based in the nation’s capital is a big responsibility for a bishop and I believe he has the right mix of people skills and Church know-how to navigate the stormy seas well. To put it bluntly, I think his talents would be wasted in Brisbane. He would have the skills to deal with the issues the Church there faces, but those challenges would take him away from his best work.

Now that I’ve made my thoughts known, that’s probably a guaranteed commentator’s curse and Archbishop Coleridge will be tapped on the shoulder for Brisbane. And then the game of chess would resume as the Holy Father looks to find the right pieces of the episcopal puzzle.

Yeah, maybe it’s more like a jigsaw than a game of chess.

Oh, and New Zealand readers, keep an eye out for an announcement in the coming months for a new bishop of Hamilton, with Bishop Denis Browne turning 75 later in the year.