MONSIGNOR Tony doherty
Tony Doherty served 10 years as the distinguished Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral, and 10 years as Parish Priest, Rose Bay at St Mary Magdalene Church.
Tony entered the seminary in 1956 and was ordained as a priest in 1963. During the course of his ministry was involved in making major improvements to the public accessibility of the church and Archdiocese through his media presence and availability. A highlight of this was his appointment as director of Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1994.
While at Rose Bay Parish he endeared himself to generations of parishioners and the wider community by his wisdom and sharing his astute insights, through the prism of faith, into the dilemmas and challenges facing the world today.
Now in “so-called retirement”, Fr Tony remains actively involved in sacramental and pastoral work, including as a regular celebrant of the 9.30AM Sunday Eucharist at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Network for Good in Neutral Bay, Sydney.
He spends much of his time writing and as a mentor to many in this time of turmoil and uncertainty. “My focus now lies in trying to build an adult church, trying to make our religious traditions something which will nourish the lives of adult people.”
FATHER JAMES ‘JIM’ CARTY SM
Jim Carty has seen extensive Missionary service throughout the Far East, South East Asia, Oceania and Australasia. Ordained in Sydney in 1963, after 7 years teaching in Marist high schools in Australia, Jim began working as a missionary in Japan where he spent 15 years.
With the arrival of the waves of Vietnamese Boat people, Jim established a refugee camp on Marist property in Nara. This subsequently led to a lifetime of work with refugees, through government and charitable Aid organisations in South East Asia and Southern Asia, and resulted in his ultimate appointment as Director of the Marist Mission Centre in 1990 to 1994 After a period as leader of the Marist Province of Australia and Japan, from 1995 to 2000, Jim became heavily involved in serving refugees in Australia. Firstly, at the request of JRS and Caritas he visited most of the expanding number of Detention Centres in Australia including Woomera and Curtin in WA, and then to the newly established offshore infamous “Pacific Solution” camps of Manus and Nauru.
In 2003 he was invited to be Coordinator of the House of Welcome- a drop in Centre for refugees and asylum Seekers in Carramar Western Sydney. It was a project of the New South Wales Ecumenical Council. This led to a period as Chaplain to refugee camps on Christmas Island followed by a management role with CatholicCare Sydney for Prison and Hospital Chaplains.
Although now in semi-retirement, Father Jim continues to devote much of his time to providing pastoral care to refugees and immigrant communities in Sydney. We are very blessed that Jim is able to be with St Joseph’s Community where he is able to join with us in the celebration of the Eucharist, as well as, providing his special kind of pastoral and sacramental support to our faith community.
FATHER MICHAEL KELLY
In March 2021, Michael Kelly marks the 50th anniversary his entry of the Jesuit Novitiate in Melbourne. Since then, he has studied for anArts degree in history and Sociology and degrees in philosophy and theology. From his earliest days in the Jesuits, he has been drawn to work as a journalist and its associated activities - publishing, editing, broadcasting and television production. He returned to Australia March 2020.
For sometime we were fortunate to have Michael celebrate the Eucharist with us and share the challenge and questions of our faith lines.
Unfortunately Michael has had serious health issues including amputation of one leg. This has meant a deep and lasting change to his life.
It is with sadness Michael’s declining health no longer permits his presence. We are grateful for all he brought to our community.