Peter John Elliott

Peter John Elliott (1 October 1943 – 6 August 2025) was an Australian bishop of the Catholic Church who served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne from 2007 to 2018. He was also an author, writing a number of published works that predominantly concern the celebration of Catholic liturgy.

Background Elliott was born on 1 October 1943 in Melbourne, where he also grew up. His father served as an Anglican priest in the city. Elliott was received into the Catholic Church while a student at the University of Oxford.

He was of partial Sorbian descent. His maternal grandmother came from a family of Lutheran Sorbs who immigrated to the Wimmera region of Victoria, from what is now the German state of Saxony in the early 19th century. Their emigration from Germany was motivated by their dissent from the union of Lutheran and Calvinist churches that had recently taken place there. His Funeral was held at St Patricks Cathedral in Melbourne.https://tributes.theage.com.au/au/obituaries/theage-au/name/peter-elliott-obituary?id=59178849

Education Elliott earned an honours degree in history from the University of Melbourne, where he was a resident student at Trinity College. He was then awarded the Marley Studentship to study at Trinity College Theological School. He later read theology at the University of Oxford, then returned to Australia, studying for the Catholic priesthood at Corpus Christi College, Glen Waverley. He received his episcopal consecration from Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne on 15 June 2007, with Cardinal George Pell of Sydney and Archbishop Ambrose Battista De Paoli, the Holy See's apostolic nuncio to Australia, serving as principal co-consecrators.

Following his ordination as a bishop, Elliott served on both the Bishops' Liturgy Commission and the National Liturgical Council of Australia.

Pope Francis announced in November 2018 that he had accepted Elliott's resignation, which was submitted on reaching the retirement age of 75.