TRIBUTES have poured in from across the country for Fr Gerald O’Collins, Jesuit priest and author who passed away at 93 last week.
Born in Melbourne in 1931 and ordained in 1963, Fr O’Collins went on to become a theologian of global significance.
Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge was taught by Fr O’Collins during his time at the seminary, saying he “made theology seem not only relevant but exciting”.
“He also gave us a sense of the Church universal which was itself exciting and even liberating,” Archbishop Coleridge said.
“Through the years Gerry not only taught his students – he befriended them. That’s why many of those he taught and mentored became his lifelong friends.
“Gerry was a great encourager”.
Archbishop Coleridge said that as well as his theology, Fr O’Collins was known for his celebrated Australian accent when he spoke italian.
“He knew the language as well as anyone, it’s just that the sound was pure Chips Rafferty,” he said.
“But more importantly he was known as a teacher who had a genuinely pastoral concern for his students, which was unusual in the Roman universities at that time.
“This was another aspect of Gerry’s gift of friendship.”
Fr O’Collins taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome for 33 years and published more than 70 books as well as countless articles.
After leaving the Gregorian in 2006, Fr O’Collins became a research professor at St Mary’s College, University of Surrey, London.
He then returned to Australia in 2009, where he was adjunct professor at Australian Catholic University and research fellow at Catholic Theological College and taught at the Jesuit College of Spirituality in Melbourne.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said Fr O’Collins had led a remarkable life, “marked by faithful and faith-filled service to the Catholic Church in Australia and around the world”.
“Through his many books and articles, and through his lasting impact on his students, his friends, his colleagues and his religious and natural families, he will continue to be a source of inspiration and faithful discipleship of Jesus for a long time to come,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
