Vale Fr Francis. Former Catholic Education Director Geoff Joy reflects

I first met Archbishop Francis Carroll in 1992 when he chaired the panel who interviewed me (and presumably some others) for the position of Director of the Archdiocesan Catholic Education Office (CEO).

It was my good fortune that Fr Francis (as he preferred to be called), rang me early that evening at home in Sydney to offer me the position to start in January, 1993.

I had some knowledge of the size and spread of the schools of the Archdiocese and I had certainly heard much about the Goulburn Catholic Schools Strike of 1962. I was a teacher at Marcellin College, Randwick when a small group of College boys approached me on playground duty and asked hopefully “when will we be going on strike?”

However, I had little knowledge of the family life, education and Church “career” of Fr Francis.

Over the next fourteen years (we both retired in 2006) I was to rejoice and thank God that our Chief Pastor was a genuine man of God, of the people and of prayer. He was humble, intelligent, experienced in Church leadership and the operation of Catholic Schools Systems, and dedicated to his ‘flock’.

No doubt his experience of being a Canon Law doctoral student in Rome during three of the four Sessions of the Second Vatican Council (including meeting Pope John XXIII) helped strengthen his belief that the Church is the People of God on a pilgrim faith journey inspired by the Gospel of Jesus to experience the love of the God of all creation.

Father Francis preferred consensus in decision-making. He arranged the first Diocesan Synod in Australia in Canberra in 1989 (and again in 2004) to involve priests, religious and laity from across all parishes talking and listening to one another, praying together and planning for the Christ-given mission.

But he did say that in some situations and circumstances, the leader responsible may need to make a quick decision with little or no consultation.  (Obviously, he had to make many quick decisions in all the Australian Rules football games he played!)

In the Catholic Schools scene, I was soon to realise he was very experienced.

• First Director of the Catholic Education Office in Wagga Wagga 1965-1968
• Bishop of Wagga Wagga (from aged 36) 1967-1983
• First Chairperson of the National Catholic Education Commission 1974-1979
• Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn from 1983

During Fr Francis’ time as Director of the Wagga Wagga CEO, one innovative change in the operation of the two secondary schools was the amalgamation of the Presentation Sisters’ Mount Erin Girls School and the Christian Brothers’ Boys School.

As Fr Francis wrote about it: ‘It came out of necessity really … Mt Erin didn’t have anyone to teach Science and the Christian Brothers were happy to help. So for a year they were bussing the girls down to the Brothers’ School for Science. At the end of that year we had a big public meeting to decide whether we’d set up a separate Years 11 & 12 co-education Diocesan school’.

The final decision was made in January and the school opened in February 1969.

I include that episode because Fr Francis was vital again in this Archdiocese in a brave new adventure – namely the establishment of Carroll College, Broulee.

At the time there was not a Catholic Secondary College between Nowra in NSW and Bairnsdale in Victoria, a distance of 600kms.

The Parish Priest at Bateman’s Bay was Fr Henry Byrne. He dreamed of having a Catholic Secondary College in the area and not only dreamed but purchased land at Broulee for it. He formed a committee and convinced Fr Francis that it should be named Carroll College Interim Board.

But this was the time when the financial situation of funding the 54 systemic schools in the Archdiocese was in crisis after what was referred to by many as ‘The Crash’. CEO deficits for 1987 and 1988 totalled over $3 million resulting from over spending on educational services at school and office levels. As well $7.5 million loans had to be serviced and long service leave provisions were zero.

Fr Francis appointed a committee of three (one from interstate) to report on the crisis. Following the receipt of the report, Fr Francis acted decisively – the Director of the CEO was dismissed and some senior positions at the CEO were declared vacant.

In July 1989, two people were appointed to lead a recovery mission – Fr Kevin Barry-Cotter as full-time Vicar for Education and Chair of the Archdiocesan Catholic Education Commission and Peter Annett as Director of the CEO. Peter had been a Deputy Director in the Melbourne CEO.

Together these two men put in prodigious efforts to start to bring the budget back to surplus. It meant some reduction in schools and office staffing. Morale suffered. After three years, Peter returned to the Melbourne CEO.

When I came as Director of the CEO in 1993 I soon felt the negative vibes resulting from ‘the Crash’.

It was in this environment that the enthusiasm of the Carroll College Interim Board and a massive amount of research on the educational and financial factors involved by CEO Staff that the Archdiocesan CEC recommended to Fr Francis that planning for the project proceed.

Fr Francis approved and Carroll College became a reality in 1995 and flourished. Carroll College was a climate changer in the schooling system of the Archdiocese.

From 1999, CEO & School personnel were involved in the development of a new RE program for the schools called ‘Treasures New & Old’. Philomena Billington led the project. Fr Francis was closely involved.

In the year 2000, some 2000 School, CEO Staff, Priests and parent representatives gathered at the Canberra Convention Centre for a 2-day Conference on Catholic Schooling and celebrating 2000 years since the birth of Jesus. At the end of the final Mass, Fr Francis presented each Principal and REC with a copy of “Treasures New & Old.”

In his closing remarks Fr Francis told the assembly how proud he was of them in their carrying on the mission of Jesus,

I cannot image the multiple matters that Fr Francis faced as the leader of the Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn with its National Capital and NSW country parishes scattered over 88,000 sq kms.

The priest Vicar for Education, the Chair of the Archdiocese CEC and myself met monthly with Fr Francis on pre-circulated agendas and meeting papers. Fr Francis always had done his homework and followed the consensus model. These meetings were really among trusted friends with the common cause of Catholic schooling.

(Fr Francis rejoiced that in his years as Archbishop new schools opened – four Primary Schools and two Secondary Colleges in the ACT and three Secondary Colleges in NSW plus the amalgamation of two Congregational Colleges to form a Diocesan College in Goulburn).

In his Gospel Matthew records Jesus telling his disciples how they should live: ‘Just as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.’ Fr Francis followed this advice of Jesus to the letter.

Vale Fr Francis.

Life is changed not ended.

Continue to pray for us all, Fr Francis.

• Geoff Joy was the Director of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese for 14 years, from 1993 till 2006