ROBERT McGuckin's appointment by the Vatican as Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba has been well-received by local Catholics despite reservations about his predecessor's forced retirement.

Hailing from Sydney, Bishop McGuckin is well-regarded by his peers as friendly and humorous, and has worked extensively with the Archdiocese of Suva in Fiji.

The ordination ceremony in St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba on Thursday involved the presentation with a Fijian 'lei' and a symbolic passing of office from former Bishop Bill Morris.

Fr Peter Doohan, from Charleville's St Mary's Parish attended the ceremony, and said there were mixed feelings about the politics preceding it.

"All the bishops in Queensland were there, retired bishops, retired archbishops, the Archbishop of Brisbane and of course Father Morris was there. There were mixed feelings about the affair," Fr Peter said.

Bishop Morris had suggested that the Catholic Church consider ordaining married men, women and acknowledging non-catholic members of the clergy.

Consequently the Vatican pressured William 'Bill' Morris - Toowoomba's Bishop of 18 years - to retire in 2011.

"In Bill's case due, process wasn't followed; the cardinals basically asked him to resign, but he wouldn't.

"So they came to this agreement of early retirement.

"But it wasn't really retirement, it was dismissal."

Fr Jamie Collins of Roma's All Saints, who also attended, agreed Bishop Morris's retirement was unjust.

"It was most disappointing to see how that all ended up," Fr Jamie said.

"He's since retired to his private home in Brisbane and his status will be as the retired Diocese of Toowoomba.

"He was tried by cardinals in Rome for several years. "

Fr Jamie said Bishop Morris's put forward different ideas for discussion regarding the ordination of women, acknowledging the status of clergy other than Catholics.

"He was putting it up for discussion, not advocating it, but that was enough to get him into trouble," he said.

"There was then an investigation, and it was decided the Church would be better served with a new bishop." 

Fr Doohan stressed that Bishop McGuckin was welcome and respected in his new Diocese.

"This has really got nothing to do with Robert McGuckin - It's just the way that Morris was treated, and people are very disappointed in the authorities who didn't give him justice and due process," he said.

"The [new] Bishop is a quietly spoken man, very friendly, very warm and a canon lawyer. He would have a great deal to offer our diocese. I'm sure he'll be welcomed with open arms."