Michael Putney (bishop)

Michael Ernest Putney (20 June 1946 – 28 March 2014) was an Australian Roman Catholic bishop and a recognised leader of the ecumenical movement in Australia.

Born in Gladstone, Queensland, Putney attended St Joseph's Convent in Townsville for his primary education, and Our Lady's Mount, also in Townsville, and St Columban's College in the Brisbane suburb of Albion for his secondary education.

He trained for the priesthood at Pius XII Provincial Seminary at Banyo, and was ordained in 1969. Putney was named titular bishop of Mizigi and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) in 1995. In 2001, Putney was named bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville, succeeding Bishop Raymond Conway Benjamin.

Putney was well known for his ecumenical outreach to other Christian denominations and was president of the National Council of Churches in Australia from 2009 to 2013.

Putney was appointed Member of the Order of Australia in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the Catholic Church in Australia, to the promotion of inter-faith dialogue, and to the community of Townsville", and his life and work is also remembered in the annual Bishop Michael Putney Lecture, sponsored by Queensland Churches Together and the Brisbane Roman Catholic Council for Ecumenism and Inter Religious Relations.

Death
Bishop Putney was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer in December 2012, and eventually died in office, having worked up until his admission to hospital on 21 March 2014, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He died 15 months after his diagnosis at the Mater Hospital, Townsville, on 28 March 2014, aged 67.