ARCHBISHOP John Bathersby of Brisbane has paid tribute to Auxiliary Bishop John Gerry for the ‘great service’ he has given the archdiocese for more than half a century.
Bishop Gerry, who retired as auxiliary bishop last Tuesday with the episcopal ordination of Bishop Joseph Oudeman, has been a priest in the archdiocese for 52 years and a bishop for 27.
Archbishop Bathersby said: ‘Bishop Gerry has been an excellent bishop with a deep love of people and priests, and a real passion for social justice and ecumenism.’
Bishop Gerry has fond memories of his priestly days around the time of Vatican II.
He became parish priest at Stafford as the Second Vatican Council began and he said he enjoyed taking up the spirit of the council with the young parish.
He said that energy continued with his ordination as bishop on July 29, 1975, because the late Archbishop Francis Rush had great enthusiasm for the Vatican II spirit.
‘The 70s and 80s were exciting times as we sought new ways for people to find that they were not only part of the Church but that we are the Church – the People of God – and that we’re baptised as God’s people to transform the world into the way God wants it to be,’ he said.
His successor as auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese, Bishop Joseph Oudeman, was ordained in St Stephen’s Cathedral on February 11.
Full coverage of Bishop Oudeman’s episcopal ordination in next week’s issue of The Catholic Leader.
