The Catholic Weekly 23 October 2022

catholicweekly.com.au 3 23, October, 2022 H I S T O R I C A L E D I T I O N 2 0 0 Y E A R S Lifetimes ago: a report in The Sydney Gazette of 18 June 1820, above, reported the beginning of the efforts of Sydney Catholics to build a church. IMAGE : STATE LIBRARY OF NSW A handwritten note dated 12 July 1822, above, demonstrates the response to the fundraising push: the signatory to the note promises to donate a cow in calf to the call for donations to build a Catholic church. IMAGE: ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY ARCHIVES Sydney town Beloved Bishop says farewell to official duty didn’t deter them from planning a church of their own  Marilyn Rodrigues B ishop Terence Brady is full of gratitude for a “blessed” life as he steps down from his role as an active bishop of Sydney. Bishop Terry, as he is known, reached the canonical retirement age of 75 in April and Pope Francis recently accepted his letter of resignation. Sydney-born and raised, he’s staunch- ly proud of his Irish Catholic heritage and sees himself as continuing the legacy of his forebears who established the Church in this country, including the founder of St Mary’s Cathedral and one of the colo- ny’s first priests, Fr JohnTherry. “For a long time Irish Catholicism gave the nation a social heart and a social con- science, and the priests stayed very close to the people,” the bishop said. “And I can see why a lot of the Irish when they came here got on extremely well with the Indigenous. “There’s a connection with the earth and with nature and they tend to be mys- tics as well, they have a deep spirituality about them.” Bishop Terry has a life-long affinity with the disadvantaged and the poor, and a deep devotion to the spirituality of the heart and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. He began volunteering at the Matthew Talbot Hostel for homeless men as a Year 8 student at De La Salle Catholic College in Cronulla. It channelled his desire to serve oth- ers and fuelled the strong faith nurtured in him by his parents Bernard and Mary Teresa. They combined practicality with a deep prayer life and were devoted to serving others. “I’ve seen my father come home at night, in his old FJ Holden in those days, and gone out again to check if some guy was still standing there that he’d noticed earlier while working that day, to see if he was ok. If he was here today he’d be forev- er busy stopping [to help].” Looking back, he sees his vocation as embedded in the first four years of his life living at Dover Heights where the parish priest Fr Con Sexton was a family friend. “Then when we moved to Oatley. Fr Basil Jansen was a very good pastor. He cared about the people, he knew every- one in the parish, and he always took an interest in us,” he said. Thinking he would struggle with the academic side of the seminary, as a teen- ager young Terry joined the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at Douglas Park. If not for them and the formation they offered, he says he would never have be- come a priest. “They opened the door to priesthood for me, they saw the possibility of it, along with others, and of course that was in the Not only were most of the Colony’s Catho- lics located in Sydney but “the circumstance of the Roman Catholics of New South Wales being much more numerous than wealthy” it was best they confine “their contributions for the present to the single Object of erect- ing a Chapel in the Town of Sydney.” Fourteen months later, the fundraising efforts in attracting donations to the Chapel building project had proved successful, with the notice filling half a page in The Sydney Gazette of 1 December, 1821. The substantial sum of £628 had been do- nated in the course of almost 18 months – a remarkable figure for the time. More interest- ing than the pounds, shillings and pence are the names of those who appear in this list, the great and the good of the Colony at this time. These are names we are familiar with from streets, suburbs and towns, such as Er- skine, Jamison, Goulburn, Piper, Wentworth, Druitt, Wollstonecraft, Oxley, Cordeaux and Macquarie. These were all prominent and respected non-Catholics and all had made generous donations. From “the respectable Catholics of the Settlement”, some had made very generous donations: William Davis and his wife Cath- erine, each gave £50. But many non-convict Catholic colonists had not contributed, while many more, be- ing convicts, were in no financial position to do so. Still others, having no cash to of- fer, offered livestock and other goods. The “Widow’s mite” of the Gospel story comes to mind. Michael Sternbeck edits the blog In Diebus Illis focusing on the beginnings of the Church in Australia. At present he is preparing a biography of Archbishop John Bede Polding. He is the proprietor of the Saint Bede Studio (see Page 5) specialising in vestment-making and ornamental de- signs for the restoration and beautification of churches. Ask for a FREE Gi ft in Wi l ls guide today! Contact : Thomas Ng on 1800 753 969 | thomas.ng@sydneycathol ic .org Leaving a legacy of Faith, Hope & Love for Future generations CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY Scan QR code for more info www.ourfaithourworks. org/bequests Congratulations St Mary’s Cathedral on your 200 th year Anniversary window just after Vatican II as well, when things were changing,” he said. “And I got this bug. I wasn’t thinking of parish life or anything specific, I just had this calling to priesthood. But I know in my case the calling for me was so much better in a parish setting because that’s where I feel most at home, in a commu- nity. “ He’s encouraged by what he sees as a heightened social conscience among today’s young people as today’s cost of living and other pressures make life in- creasingly challenging while the poorest and disadvantaged - as always - bear the brunt. “It’s never been easy but I think we’ve seen things (get tougher) in the last few years. “But I think we’ve got a generation of people coming through that have that so- cial awareness and with enough encour- agement they will come through as the prophetic voices we need,” he said. Bishop Terry says his biggest challenge was in parish life when transitioning from ministering in Sydney’s western suburbs, followed by Kingsgrove, to Mosman in 2004. “I’d forgotten that the different parts of Sydney are very different. I tried to imple- ment what had worked well before but it didn’t work!” he said. “But those good Catholics who are al- ways around you come in, help, encour- age and lift you up and then everything went very well. It’s a great community there.” His appointment as bishop in 2007 came as a huge shock. “I couldn’t believe it and it certainly changed my life. “But once again I’ve found that the people have been there with you and supported you. It meant I got to know the Australian bishops and they are a good group; and I’ve been privileged to be in- volved in things I never imagined. “Also what’s been very important throughout my ministry is the presence of religious women. They keep their eye on you and let you knowwhen [you need] to pull your socks up.” He’s close to St Mary MacKillop and Servant of God Eileen O’Connor and be- lieves Eileen interceded when a cancer- ous tumour was discovered on one of his kidneys in 2019. “They removed it all and I didn’t need any chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Of- ten with kidney cancer it’s too far gone by the time it’s found, so I thought it was quite miraculous.” Stepping down as an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese has felt bittersweet, but he’s looking forward to an active re- tirement that will bring him full circle serving in pastoral care at St Vincent’s Hospital. “Whenever I’ve left parishes I’ve found it very difficult as well. “But in this case I’ve had plenty of time to prepare myself, and there’s plenty more to do out there. I’m looking forward to being back at the grassroots with peo- ple much more, and spending more time with the Lord as well. “Going up that mountain is impor- tant for all of us. But I think particularly in the final part of your journey, to pre- pare yourself and say thank you for all the blessings as well. “I’ve had my ups and downs but I’ve been so blessed, with the goodness of people all through my life, growing up in my family, the parish, the communi- ty, and all the parishes I’ve been to. And the greatest privilege has been getting to know the people on the streets and being around those who are doing it tough.” Bishop Terence Brady: the retirement of the popular figure in the Archdiocese has been accepted by Pope Francis. PHOTO: GIOVANNI PORTELLI Spirituality, a heart for the poor and social justice: Bishop Brady leads a prayer service for the homeless in 2021. PHOTO: GIOVANNI PORTELLI