Bishop Emeritus Hilton Deakin

Bishop Hilton Deakin is Auxiliary Bishop for the Eastern Region of Melbourne.

Bishop Deakin was born in Seymour, Victoria on 13 November 1932. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Justin Simonds at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, in 1958. In 1987 he became Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne on 3 March 1993.

Highlights include:

• He co-ordinated the Aboriginal section, including an Aboriginal liturgy which was a world first, during the Eucharistic Congress in 1973.
• Continuing on from the Congress, he carried out a research project for the Bishops' Conference on Aborigines.
• He obtained his doctoral thesis in 1977.
• He was appointed chairman of the board of management of Kairos Catholic Journal.
• Involvement in the formation of the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in 1991.
• Upon being approached by the East Timorese community to be the principal celebrant at a commemorative Mass, Bishop Deakin has become heavily involved in the East Timorese cause.

Pope Benedict XVI accepted Bishop Deakin's resignation from the office at the age of seventy-five years and appointed him Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus on Tuesday 13th November 2007.

With the retirement of Bishop Deakin on 13 November 2007, Archbishop Hart has asked the Vicar General, Monsignor Les Tomlinson, to provide the care and be the reference point of the Eastern Region of the Archdiocese for the time being.