The Australian Catholic Directory • Deceased Priests

2020/2021 Directory available 1 July

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Prayer for March 9th

JESUS, CRUCIFIED AND RISEN SAVIOUR, GIVE PEACE TO THESE DEPARTED PRIESTS FOR WHOM YOU DIED.

List of Deceased Clergy, only year of death known
List of Deceased Clergy, date of death unknown

This is an historical record of the death of clergy in Australia for the 9th of March:

2016
Rev Angelo O'Hagan OFM Franciscan Friars - Order of Friars Minor
1921
Rev Florence D McAuliffe Cessnock, Maitland, etc, NSW
1934
Rev Paul Healy SJ Sydney, etc
1939
Rev Thomas F O'Connor Rockhampton dioc, Qld
1972
Rev Maxwell Douglas Sydney
1979
Rev William Thomas McCormack Crookwell, Moruya, Young, Wollongong, Fairymeadow, etc, NSW
1980
Rev Laurence Goodacre Coonamble, Kandos, Bathurst, NSW
2006
Rev Raymond Wilson Beaudesert, Brisbane, Upper Mt. Gravatt, Enoggera, Wavell Heights, Boonah, Laidley, Rosewood, Qld
2007
Rev Albert Brian Davis OP
2020
Most Rev John A Bathersby DD Read more
Born 26/07/1936.
Ordained 30/06/1961.
Archdiocese of Brisbane.

Archbishop Bathersby served as the Bishop of Cairns for five years before taking on his role as Brisbane archbishop for 20 years.

He was remembered for his emphasis on prayer, the Eucharist and the centrality of Jesus as well as a commitment to ecumenism and the laity.

Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said in Archbishop Bathersby's 20 years as archbishop, he was no high-powered administrator or fiery preacher'. What he brought to the office was something deeper and more enduring,' he said. John was consumed by the desire to know and love Jesus, and he spoke of this more and more as time went by. This is his greatest legacy to the archdiocese. It led to a focus on deepening prayer, not only in his own life but in the life of the archdiocese. The mystic shone through in the little Aussie battler; and the effect of that is hard to measure but impossible to deny. From this there flowed his passion for Christian unity: he understood that the Jesus whom he had met knocked down the walls that divide. His deep sense of communion extended not only to other Churches but to the community as a whole.'

Archbishop Bathersby was born in Stanthorpe in 1936 to John Thomas, a shopkeeper and publican at the Country Club Hotel, and Grace Maud Bathersby.

He entered Pius XII Seminary, Banyo, after his schooling and was ordained in Stanthorpe parish by Bishop William Brennan on June 30, 1961.

His first seven years as a priest were spent in Goondiwindi before he was sent to Rome for further studies in 1969, where he completed a licentiate in Theology and a Diploma in Spirituality.

Returning to Brisbane, he worked as a spiritual director at Pius XII Seminary for seven years before, again, he was sent to Rome; this time to complete a Doctorate in Theology/Spirituality.

He was appointed Bishop of Cairns in 1986 and then became Archbishop of Brisbane on January 30, 1992.

When Archbishop Bathersby retired in 2011, at the age of 75, he said it had been a privilege' and a lasting joy' to have been archbishop.

He is survived by his three sisters; Carmel Mahoney, Sue Nolan and Anne Johnson; his brother Michael Bathersby, and numerous nephews and nieces.

May he rest in peace.
2009
Rev Patrick Crilly OSA Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney

Clergy who died in March, exact date of death unknown:

Rev John Carter Sandhurst dioc, Vic
1872Rev Peter Bruno Powell St. Leonards, Penrith, etc, NSW; Penola, Mt. Gambier, Adelaide dioc, SA; Perth, Albany, WA; Melbourne, Vic
1886Rev Martin Meagher Crookwell, etc, NSW; Hobart dioc
1889Rev Francis? Costello Sydney
1906Rev Michael Farrelly Sandhurst dioc, Vic

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