John Bathersby

The Most Reverend John Bathersby
Roman Catholic archbishop
Province	Brisbane
Diocese	Archdiocese of Brisbane
Installed	3 December 1991
Term ended	14 November 2011
Predecessor	Francis Roberts Rush
Successor	Mark Coleridge
Orders
Ordination	30 June 1961 (Priest) in Stanthorpe, Queensland
Consecration	20 March 1986 (Bishop) in
Personal details
Birth name	John Alexius Bathersby
Born	26 July 1936 Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Parents	John Thomasand Grace Maud (née Conquest) Bathersby
Occupation	Roman Catholic bishop
Profession	Cleric
Alma mater	Pius XII Seminary, Banyo Gregorian University, Rome Terasianum University

Styles of John Bathersby
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Grace
Religious style	Emeritus Archbishop
Posthumous style	not applicable

John Alexius Bathersby (born 26 July 1936, Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia) is a retired Australian bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the sixth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, serving from 1991 until his retirement in 2011. Bathersby is conferred with the title Emeritus Archbishop of Brisbane.

Early years

The son of John Thomas and Grace Maud (née Conquest) Bathersby, John Alexius had an older sister, Carmel, a younger brother, Michael, and two younger sisters, Suzanne and Anne. He received his primary schooling at St Joseph's, Stanthorpe (1941–50) and his secondary schooling as a boarder at Nudgee College in Brisbane (1951–54). From school he entered the Pius XII Provincial Seminary, Banyo, where he began his training for the priesthood and, on completion of those studies (1955–61), he was ordained a priest in his home parish of Stanthorpe by Bishop William Brennan on 30 June 1961.^[1]

His first seven years as a priest were spent as an assistant and administrator at Goondiwindi before being sent to Rome in 1969 for further studies where he completed a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a diploma in spirituality at the Pontifical Theological Faculty Teresianum. In 1972 he was appointed to the staff of Pius XII Seminary in Brisbane where he served as spiritual director for seven years before returning to Rome for a doctorate in theology and spirituality in 1979. He returned to the seminary before being appointed Bishop of Cairns in 1986.^[1]

Bishop of Cairns and Archbishop of Brisbane

On 20 March 1986, Bathersby was consecrated Bishop of Cairns by Archbishop Francis Rush, whom he would succeed as Archdiocese of Brisbane on 3 December 1991, and installed as the sixth Bishop (and fifth Archbishop) of Brisbane on 30 January 1992.^[2]

Bathersby was a member of the International Catholic-Methodist Dialogue from 1989 to 1995 and a member of the executive of the Confederation of Bishops' Conferences of Oceania from 1991 to May 1994. He is co-chairman of the Australian Catholic–Uniting Church Dialogue. From July 1997 he served as President of the National Council of Churches in Australia until July 2000. In January 2001, Pope John Paul II appointed Bathersby as co-chair of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Working Group (IARCCUM). He chairs the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Commission for Mission and Faith Formation, and is a member of the Bishops' Permanent Committee.^[1]

In 2008, St. Mary's Catholic Church, South Brisbane was the subject of controversy following complaints that long-serving parish priest Peter Kennedy was not observing standard Roman Catholic teachings and practices. However Kennedy's services were extremely popular attracting a very large congregation, many of whom felt otherwise alienated from the Catholic Church. Despite numerous attempts by Bathersby to persuade Kennedy to return to a more standard liturgy, Kennedy refused. Bathersby eventually removed Kennedy as the parish priest. Many of Kennedy's parishioners left the church with him to continue holding services as St Mary's Community in Exile at the Trades and Labour Council building on Peel Street (200m away from St Mary's Catholic Church).^[3]

Upon turning 75 years old, in July 2011, Bathersby sought the pontiff's consent to retire.^[4] Bishop of Lismore Geoffrey Hylton Jarrett was appointed administrator for the Brisbane archdiocese in November 2011^[5][6] and, in April 2012, Mark Coleridge was appointed as the seventh archbishop.^[7]

In popular culture

In 2011, a feature documentary has been made about Kennedy and the exiled community and their conflict with the Catholic Church, entitled The Trouble with St Mary's.^[8][9]

In 2016, a play "St Mary's in Exile" was written by David Burton about the events that led to Archbishop Bathersby's decision to remove Father Peter Kennedy as parish priest from St. Mary's Catholic Church, South Brisbane in 2009. It was performed in August-September 2016 as part of the Brisbane Festival at the Queensland Theatre Company's Bille Brown Theatre, approximately 250m from both St Mary's and St Mary's in Exile. Actor Josh McWilliam played the role of Archbishop Bathersby.^[10]

References

1. "About Archbishop John Bathersby". Bishops. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
2. "Archbishop John Alexius Bathersby". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 16 October 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
3. Webb, Val (2010). Stepping Out with the Sacred: Human Attempts to Engage the Divine. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 144. ISBN 9781441196422.
4. Kidd, Rob (26 July 2011). "Archbishop of Brisbane John Bathersby seeks Pontiff's permission to step down". The Courier-Mail. Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
5. "End of an era". The Catholic Leader. Australia. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
6. Elsworth, Sophie (16 November 2011). "Stand-in Catholic Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett ready for the job". The Courier-Mail. Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
7. "Appointment of the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Brisbane: The Most Revd Mark Benedict Coleridge, DD" (PDF) (Press release). Catholic Church in Australia. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
8. "The Trouble with St Marys". 2011-06-01. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
9. "The Trouble with St Mary's (2011)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
10. "St Mary's In Exile". Queensland Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 5 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.