Pontifical Funeral Mass Homily by Archbishop Prowse
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Archbishop Francis Patrick Carroll (1930-2024)
Pontifical Funeral Mass – 21st March 2024
St Christopher Cathedral, Canberra
Isaiah 43/1-3a, 5a. 2Cor. 5/1, 6-10. John 21/15-19.
The important biblical word CALLED features prominently in today’s Liturgy of the Word for our dear Archbishop Carroll’s Funeral Mass.
In the First Reading, the prophet Isaiah proclaims the Word of God and declares: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”
In the Gospel today we ponder upon the post-Resurrection call of St Peter to sacrificial friendship with Jesus with the tripartite call to love. This friendship to “Follow me” will end gloriously with St Peter’s martyrdom in Rome.
Being called in friendship by God in Jesus is one of the essential beliefs of Christianity.
Last week, on his wonderful visit to our Archdiocese, Fr. Timothy Radcliffe O.P. reminded us again that Christianity is an encounter religion. We are called in the grace of the death and resurrection of Jesus by name and to friendship with God. As our present Lenten season begins to fade to open up to Holy Week, liturgically we celebrate this extraordinary Mystery of our faith.
However, Fr. Radcliffe made an even deeper reflection on this saving encounter of being called to friendship with Jesus.
He said we are a religion of faces. We want to see God face to face. It is God’s face that we seek, says the psalmist. We see God’s face in Jesus. We see Jesus in others, especially the faces of the poor and oppressed.
We do not need to hide our faces from each other, like enemies on the battlefields of life. It dehumanises us to wear various masks, whether it be army helmets or the anonymity of the social media or whatever, to hide our vulnerable faces from each other.
Archbishop Francis Carroll (Father Francis) related to all of us in his long life in this face-to-face manner of the Gospel. His rural charm helped his enormous capacity for the encounter of friendship. He called us by name. He looked us in the eyes. His humility, surely one of the greatest characteristics of true leadership, warmed us to his gentle smile. He encouraged us. In this Archdiocesan Year of the Holy Spirit and its themes, we could rightly say he was a Godly man of encounter, discipleship and mission. This was his charism arising from his Baptism.
We pray now for God’s merciful love on him in his death. We all are aware of his many accomplishments in life. His leadership in these last few years of infirmity were particularly heroic. Indeed, in the light of the Second Reading from St Paul, he literally experienced this “tent that we live in on earth is folded up.” The Archbishop walked “by faith and not by sight.”
I recall three separate encounters when I came face-to- face with Archbishop Francis’ immense humanity.
My first face-to-face encounter with him happened in Geelong in 1981. It was soon after my priestly ordination.
I would celebrate weekly Mass for the St John of God Sisters at the nearby Catholic hospital. The much loved and very talkative Sister at the time was a relative of Archbishop Carroll, Sr. Lelia. She indicated to me that the following week Bishop Frank Carroll from Wagga Wagga (ordained a bishop at the very early age of 36 years) would be staying with her on his holidays. He would participate in our Mass and dinner afterwards. She warned me by saying, “Don’t be surprised, you will find him very shy.” When I did meet him, her observations were certainly correct. He was more than happy just to listen carefully and to have a benign oversight on events. He was a delight to meet. He certainly broke my stereotype of what a Bishop might be like!
A second face-to-face encounter with the Archbishop I recall as significant happened many years later. Now the shy Bishop of Wagga Wagga had become the Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn and the President of the Australian Bishops Conference. It was in 2004, over 20 years after the Geelong encounter. The shyness had matured into a humility that flowered into national Catholic leadership.
Immediately after a Bishops Plenary meeting in Northern Sydney on one occasion, Archbishop Francis was the first to exit the gathering. I was now a new Bishop. I spoke face-to-face to him as he was placing his luggage in his car en route to Canberra. He was to preside over the second synod of this Archdiocese. He told me briefly that he had great hope for the synod and made the prudent caution, which I recall, “If everybody embraces the Synod.” Interesting observation!
In recent times, I have re-read his inputs to that particular synod. I have found them extremely fresh given the fact that Dioceses around the world are now trying to re-engage with synods and the like. In his welcome and opening address to this Archdiocesan Synod on 14 May 2004, he outlined the importance of the discernment of the Holy Spirit. Stressing such discernment he stated, “The approach depends on prayer, the genuine listening to others, a sensitivity to all. It encourages collaboration rather than competition. It does not exclude vigorous debate but demands Christian charity and aims for consensus rather than a majority vote. It recognizes the right of each one to make a contribution from the share of wisdom, truth and gifts of the Spirit given to each one.”
Upon re-reading these comments, two things come to mind immediately. First, they are still extremely fresh despite the facts that this address was given 20 years ago. It sort of reflects Archbishop Carroll’s Episcopal Motto: “Things new and old” (Nova et Vetera). Secondly, these comments very much describe him in his personality both as a human being and as an Archbishop.
Using the language of today, Archbishop Carroll was indeed a Catholic leader of Synodality.
Another comment from his opening address that caught my eye was the following concerning the purpose of synods in the Church. His comments stated that the mission of Catholics in the modern world was to, according to Archbishop Carroll, “Witness to Christ and serve in his name so as to bring about the reign of God in Australia. We as Church need both Marian and Apostolic Petrine qualities and strengths. Under the power of the Holy Spirit we need the visible leadership of Peter and the Twelve, together with the Loving Heart of Mary, with these we will truly become one in Christ Jesus.”
Such prophetic comments show a real Pastoral Bishop at work!
A third and final memorable encounter with the Archbishop face-to-face happened only recently.
Now he was a resident at the Loretto House of Compassion in Wagga Wagga. Due to his declining health, he was unable to say anything at all, except for the occasional yes or no monosyllabic reply. Yet, as always, he seemed very attentive to all situations. His eyes were fixed on our face-to-face encounter. He seemed to be following the conversation.
There was a moment when I made a terrible mistake. I stated that he was born in Coolamon. Immediately I was corrected. The word “Ganmain” came out loud and clear. (Ganmain and Coolamon have been fierce football neighbourhood rivals since ancient times!) I was delighted to be corrected. It made me understand that he was still very alert! He lived out these past years of infirmity with great serenity. When I visited him he seemed to be pleased simply looking out of his window, his breviary and books close by. He certainly had a long life of face-to-face encounters to reflect upon in gratitude.
So now, in this Funeral Mass we commend his humble soul to the God of all loving merciful kindness. As Father Francis sees the glorified Jesus face-to- face, he will be called by name to the Heavenly encounter that will last eternally. This is our hope and prayer in this Mass.
Archbishop Francis has died in this Lenten Season, just a few days before Holy Week. He was 93 years of age and was a priest for almost 70 years and a bishop for over 56 years: an incredible grace!
We pray for his beloved family present with us. Also, those at home and those who have pre-deceased him. We pray for all who grieve his death, especially all the clergy over the years whom he offered loving paternal care. We pray for all those in ecumenism (especially the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture that he co-founded). There are too our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander friends and all those in Catholic Education (especially nationally) and the many more who mourn his death but are grateful for his immense contribution to the common good.
We pray for all the Religious and Lay Faithful who collaborated with him in two dioceses. In this regard, we pray for the Missionaries of God’s Love (MGL) that he encouraged greatly in their infancy here in Canberra. Finally, we pray for those at the Loretto Home of Compassion in Wagga Wagga who cared for him so lovingly over these final years and the nursing staff at Calvary Hospital, Wagga Wagga.
We move soon liturgically to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour over the Easter Triduum of next week.
However, for Archbishop Carroll, Easter has come a little earlier than for the rest of us. In his case, he has anticipated the merciful mystery of the Trinity of Love enfolding him that we can only hope for in Jesus. In this Lent, we prepare to go humbly where he now is.
“Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen!”