Davies dislikes factions, closed-door dealings and secrecy. He wants, he told me, “a diocese that is motivated by love and not by fear. Transparency is my word. And loving communication. I won’t be drawn by nitpicking and infighting and savaging each other. We have seen a wonderfully unified synod in this election process that is the work of God’s grace”. As Andrew Katay told me, Davies is “his own man with fresh ideas”.
Much like Pope Francis has found, I suspect Davies will be noticed first of all for a difference in tone. He speaks about needing to recognise the dignity of asylum seekers, and allow them to work instead of sticking them behind barbed wire with “looks of desperation”.
Davies is a true conservative, but is kindly, more tolerant of female preaching than his predecessor and, crucially, of dissent. People will not be blacklisted for airing different views. This could be the greatest sign of what promises to be a fascinating sea change in the Sydney Diocese.