Gaetano, one of the founding fathers of the Bunbury Diocese, was a priest whose motto in life could well have been: “Thy will be done”. He was a wonderful companion, gentle confessor, great joke teller (especially on the golf course in the endeavour to put you off your game) and a generous host at his presbytery when his mother was cooking!

Gerard served the Church in a very positive and pastorally enriching manner, giving fine example to both his brother priests and the community for more than 50 years. Gerard died at Corpus Christi Aged-Care Facility, Clayton, Victoria.

Greg will always be remembered as one of the Passionist ‘leaders’ at the crucial times of Vatican II, when there was a fair bit of questioning and turmoil at a time when many left the seminary.

Maurice attended Pius XII Provincial Seminary at Banyo, and was ordained on June 30, 1952 at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane. Following ordination, Maurice ministered in many parishes throughout the Cairns Diocese, including the Cathedral Parish, Gordonvale Parish and North Cairns Parish and served as Vicar General of the Diocese of Cairns 1975-1990.

Jim was born in Young, NSW and was educated by the Sisters of Mercy, the Marish Brothers and the Christian Brothers. After his ordination in 1939, Jim spent a year teaching at St John’s College, “Woodlawn” Lismore.

On 31 December 1955 a 21 year old Patrick M Jones wrote to The Most Rev T V Cahill DD, PhD volunteering to study for the priesthood for the Cairns Diocese. On 1 July 1962 he was ordained a priest in St Mary’s, Kingaroy after completing his studies at Banyo Seminary in Brisbane.

Fellow priest, Ivan Hernon described Peter as an enthusiastic priest who was at the forefront of change in the Catholic Church. “He certainly was a very zealous priest who after the Vatican Council was very much open to implementing the changes that were coming to the church,” Fr Hernon said. Another friend spoke about Peter the godly man – a holy man who had had a great passion for caring for marginalised people. He definitely was a true shepherd of his flock.

He was a passionate man, an enthusiast, a man of the Spirit. He led people in ways of prayer and derived inspiration from Aboriginal and Celtic spirituality. He had a great love of nature and saw God as the heart of the mysteries of creation. Those who knew him remember too how much he enjoyed a meal with family, friends and confreres.

Terry (as he was usually known) was born at Maffra, Victoria and completed his secondary eduation at St Patrick’s College, Sale in the mid 1940s. On 2 February 1949, aged 21, he became an aspirant with the Blessed Sacrament Congregation at St Francis’ Church in Melbourne and after moving to the Congregation’s novitiate ‘Mount Eymard’ at Bowral, NSW, he was accepted as a postulant on 11 February 1949.

Bernie was born in Wagin, the tenth of eleven children, and after completing his education at age 14, went to work on the Railways. At 18 he entered the seminary in Guildford and faced the unpleasant prospect of learning Latin and getting his Leaving Certificate. He persevered, and after three years philosophy at St Charles Seminary and four years of theology in Manly, became the first priest to be ordained for the newly created Diocese of Bunbury.