John O'Reily
The Most Reverend John O'Reily | |
---|---|
Archbishop of Adelaide | |
Roman Catholic Church | |
Parents | Michael O'Reily and Anne O'Reily, née Gallagher |
Alma mater | All Hallows College St Kieran's College |
John O'Reily (born John O'Reilly, 19 November 1846 – 6 July 1915)
In 1894, O'Reily was appointed to replace the deceased Christopher Reynolds as Archbishop of Adelaide. The archdiocese he inherited was burdened with substantial debt, again left over from the old Diocese of Adelaide. Through the sale of church assets and a fundraising campaign, O'Reily was able to eliminate most of the Archdiocese's liabilities while still investing in church infrastructure. He also actively participated in public discussions relating to education policy at a time when the role of the state in supporting religious education was topical. O'Reily publicly advocated government assistance for religious schools, stating that it was unfair Catholics paid taxes to support state schools, but received no funding for their own. In the later years of his life, poor health forced him to spend less time attending to his episcopal duties, and from 1905, he largely retreated from public life. At his request, Robert Spence was appointed as his coadjutor and successor in 1914, and on 6 July 1915, he died at his house in Adelaide. O'Reily was highly regarded by many in South Australian society, with Adelaide's daily newspapers praising his character, administrative ability and positive relations with non-Catholics.
Early life
O'Reily was born John O'Reilly on 19 November 1846, in
Bishop of Port Augusta
Following a recommendation from the first
"If the Holy See would think well of giving the entire colony of South Australia to the care of Dr O'Reily,[sic] I would offer no opposition to it and would gladly enter a monastery and spend my few remaining years in preparation for the end!"[5]
On 27 October, O'Reilly wrote to Pope Leo XIII requesting permission to reverse his decision to accept the appointment to Port Augusta, believing he would be unable to administer a diocese with such significant debt and such a small, impoverished population. In addition, he wrote, he had no personal wealth to contribute to the finances of the diocese.
Although the
Upon his return to South Australia, O'Reily immediately set about improving the financial situation of the Diocese of Port Augusta.
While Bishop of Port Augusta, O'Reily showed an interest in education policy. He authored a
O'Reily suffered a long and serious illness through early 1894 and continued to suffer from migraines throughout the year, forcing him to delegate many of his duties to James Maher (his vicar general) and John Norton (an official consultor)[13] who would later become, respectively, the second[13] and third[14] Bishops of Port Augusta.
Archbishop of Adelaide
After suffering a two-year illness, Archbishop Reynolds died in June 1893,[15] and by January 1894, rumours of O'Reily being appointed as his successor were published in Port Augusta papers. Although he dismissed such speculation, a letter of appointment arrived from Rome in March, naming him as the next Archbishop of Adelaide.[13]
Archdiocesan finances
As Bishop of Port Augusta, O'Reily had fought to minimise the debt inherited from the old Diocese of Adelaide. Having reduced the new diocese's debts by half in his six years as bishop, upon becoming Archbishop of Adelaide, O'Reily found the rest of the old diocesan liabilities awaiting him, their size having actually increased. In 1895, he presented a report on the state of the archdiocesan finances to the Sunday congregation in St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, revealing total liabilities of just over £37,000. O'Reily reckoned £10,000 could be paid off by selling land owned by the Archdiocese. Two weeks after his address, a meeting of Adelaide Catholics supported moves to liquidate the archdiocesan debts, with £3,600 pledged at that meeting, including £1,000 over four years from O'Reily himself, a significant portion of his income.[16]
Since the sale or mortgaging of church land required an act of Parliament, in 1896,
"Were we but willing to check our expansion and in checking it, check our expenditure as well, the last vestige of our debts would speedily have disappeared. Living things must grow, however. Our churches, our schools, our charitable institutions must expand and multiply. We have future needs to provide for as well as at present."[18]
Education policy
As Archbishop, O'Reily continued his participation in public discussions regarding education. In 1896, a colony-wide referendum sought to gauge public opinion on state education, scripture reading in state schools, and the provision of capitation grants (fixed grants per student) to non-state schools. O'Reily weighed into the debate in The Register, giving conditional support to scriptural instruction in state schools, so long as the teachers themselves were religious and Catholic students received instruction from Catholic teachers. On the subject of a capitation grant, O'Reily was strongly supportive, arguing that moral impediments prevented Catholics from using secular education, and that, since religious schools provided elements of secular education as well as religious instruction, they should receive government assistance. At the referendum, South Australians affirmed the system of free secular education, but rejected scriptural readings in schools and the capitation grant.[2]
O'Reily blamed the Labor Party for the loss of the capitation grant.[2] According to O'Reily, the serving Premier Charles Kingston could have been convinced to support the grant were it not for the objections of Labor, with whom Kingston had formed a coalition government.[12] In 1899, in the lead-up to that year's general election, O'Reily gave a speech criticising the Labor Party, accusing some Labor leaders of having "an evident disposition to crush [Catholic labourers] with successive burdens."[2]
Later life and legacy
In 1904, O'Reily travelled Europe to make his
During his time as Archbishop, O'Reily had formed positive relationships with many senior members of South Australian society, including the Anglican Bishop of Adelaide Nutter Thomas, and the Chief Justice of the
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h French 1988.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rice 2007.
- ^ a b Schumman, 1990.
- ^ Press 1986, p. 235.
- ^ a b c Press 1986, p. 237.
- ^ Press 1986, p. 238.
- ^ Press 1986, p. 249.
- ^ Press 1986, p. 242.
- ^ Press 1986, p. 239.
- ^ a b French 1975.
- ^ Press 1986, p. 240.
- ^ a b French 1977.
- ^ a b c Press 1986, p. 244.
- ^ Press 1986, p. 246.
- ^ Bickerton 1976.
- ^ a b c Press 1986, pp. 251–253.
- ^ "Index of South Australian Legislation" (PDF). Government of South Australia – Attorney General's Department. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
- ^ Press 1986, p. 253.
- ^ Press 1991, p 155.
- ^ "Death of Archbishop O'Reily". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 7 July 1915. p. 11. Retrieved 20 January 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Laffin 2008, p.103.
- ^ "A Popular Ecclesiastic". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 1 May 1913. p. 8. Retrieved 17 January 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
References
- Bickerton, Ian J. (1976). "Reynolds, Christopher Augustine". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
- French, M (1975). "The Church Extension Crisis in South Australia: The Impact of Depression and Demographic Changes on Church Organization in the Late Nineteenth Century". Journal of Religious History. 8 (4): 390–405. .
- French, M (1977). "Roman Catholics and the Labor Party: An Early Conflict in South Australia". Labour History. 32 (32): 55–65. JSTOR 27508259.
- French, M (1988). "O'Reily, John (1846–1915)". O'Reily, John. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
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ignored (help) - Laffin, Josephine (2008). Matthew Beovich – A Biography. Wakefield Press. ISBN 978-1-86254-817-6.
- Press, Margaret M. (1986). From Our Broken Toil — South Australian Catholics 1836 - 1906. The Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide. ISBN 0-949807-35-4.
- Press, Margaret M. (1991). Colour and Shadow — South Australian Catholics 1906 - 1962. The Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide. ISBN 0-646-04777-9.
- Rice, Robert (April 2007). "Archbishop John O'Reily: First Bishop of Port Augusta and Second Archbishop of Adelaide – Some Aspects of His Theology and Practice". The Australasian Catholic Record. 84 (2): 169–184. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
- Schumann, Ruth (1990). "The Catholic Priesthood of South Australia, 1844–1915". Journal of Religious History. 16 (1): 51–73. .
External links
- O'Reily, John at the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition.
- Archbishop John O’Reilly at catholic-hierarchy.org.