Peter Connors
Peter Connors | |
|---|---|
| 7th Roman Catholic Bishop of Ballarat | |
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Diocese | Ballarat |
| Appointed | 30 May 1997 |
| Installed | 23 July 1997 |
| Term ended | 1 August 2012 |
| Predecessor | Ronald Mulkearns |
| Successor | Paul Bird |
| Other post | Titular Bishop of Temuniana |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 23 July 1961 (Priest) by Archbishop Justin Simonds |
| Consecration | 21 May 1987 (Bishop) by Archbishop Frank Little |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 March 1937 Mordialloc, Victoria, Australia |
| Denomination | Roman Catholicism |
Peter Joseph Connors (born 6 March 1937) is an Australian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Ballarat from 1997 to 2012.
Biography
[edit]Connors was born in Mordialloc on 6 March 1937, the eldest son of Walter and Isa Connors. He received his primary education at Saint Mary’s School, Lancefield, and received his secondary education at Assumption College, Kilmore. After finishing high school, he joined Corpus Christi College, Melbourne as a student for the Archdiocese of Melbourne.[1]
Priesthood
[edit]Connors was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Melbourne on 23 July 1961 at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne by Archbishop Justin Daniel Simonds.[2] During his priesthood, he served in the parishes of Frankston, Kyneton and East St Kilda. He also obtained a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Urban University.[3]
Returning to Melbourne in 1972, he was appointed Secretary to the Marriage Tribunal of Victoria and Tasmania. He was secretary to the Archbishop of Melbourne, Thomas Francis Little, from 1974 to 1976, then vicar-general of the Archdiocese of Melbourne until 1987.[4]
Episcopate
[edit]On 30 March 1987, Connors was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne and Titular Bishop of Temuniana. He was consecrated on 21 May 1987 at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne by Archbishop Thomas Francis Little.[5]
On 30 May 1997, he was appointed Bishop of Ballarat, succeeding Bishop Ronald Austin Mulkearns, upon his retirement. He was installed on 23 July 1997.[6]
He faced a heavy task upon his appointment, with several serious clerical child- abuse cases, and a consequent demoralisation of many of the clergy. Some seminarians for the Diocese were also opting to serve in the Archdiocese of Melbourne.[7]
In 1999, a proposal to dismantle the historic marble high altar in St Patrick's Cathedral was met with public backlash. The plan was scrapped and instead, a new marble altar was installed to replace the temporary altar table, originally put in place in the 1970s.[8]
In 2011, when Australian Senator Nick Xenophon called for the government to make it illegal for priests to refuse to reveal cases of sex abuse disclosed in the confessional, Connors responded by saying the legislation would be ineffective. He said there was no way any priest would betray the seal, an act for which the penalty under Church law is automatic excommunication. "I would like to think parliamentarians would respect the law of the Church on this matter," he said. "If priests were required to report these things, the seal of confession would be broken."[9]
Retirement
[edit]Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation on 1 August 2012, not long after he reached the standard retirement age of 75.[10] His retirement was described as "early" because he had anticipated that the search for his successor would require him to remain bishop for another year.[11]
In 2013, he had also told the Commission that his predecessor in Ballarat, Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, had shown great naivety in moving priests from one parish to another when they were known to have abused children.[12]
In 2015, Connors admitted to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that he had failed to respond to reports of sexual abuse while Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop, and that there was no excuse for failing to escalate complaints and allegations against priests under his charge.[13][4] The royal commission confirmed that an early leaked police report, written by Ballarat Detective Kevin Carson, said the church seemed to have known about high rates of suicides linked to abuse by convicted child sex offenders Brother Robert Charles Best and Father Gerald Ridsdale, and others, but had remained silent.[14][15]
A wing at Damascus College, constructed in 2012 for year 9 and 10 students, was named after Connors. This naming is now under review by the school following the findings from the Royal Commission.[13]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ↑ "About Us". Catholic Diocese of Ballarat. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
- ↑ "Bishop Peter Joseph Connors". catholic-hierachy.org. Catholic Hierachy. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
- ↑ "About Us". Catholic Diocese of Ballarat. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
- 1 2 Donelly, Beau (2 December 2015). "Bishop Peter Connors admits he had failed parishioners on paedophiles". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ↑ "Bishop Peter Joseph Connors". catholic-hierachy.org. Catholic Hierachy. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
- ↑ "Bishop Peter Joseph Connors". catholic-hierachy.org. Catholic Hierachy. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
- ↑ Gilchrist, Michael (April 2001). "Is Townsville the model for Ballarat's priest shortage?". AD2000. 14 (3). Retrieved 31 July 2026.
- ↑ "Ballarat Cathedral". AD2000. 12 (2). March 1999. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
- ↑ "Confessional seal and child abuse cases". AD2000. 24 (8). September 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
- ↑ "Rinunce e Nomine, 01.01.2012" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ↑ "Controversy over clergy abuse takes its toll". ABC Ballarat. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ↑ Zwartz, Barney (30 April 2013). "Catholic Church 'facilitated' abuse". The Age. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- 1 2 Wrigley, Brendan (20 December 2017). "Future of Damascus' Bishop Connors Wing unclear following commission". The Courier. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ↑ SCHUURMAN, TOM MCILROY and EVAN (13 April 2012). "Suicides linked to Catholic clergy abuse". The Courier. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ↑ "Pedophile priest had more victims: detective". The Age. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
External links
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