Fr Gerald O'Collins SJ AC was a giant and a gentleman. He was a significant figure in the Catholic Church both in Australia and globally. For 32 years he taught theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, where he was Dean for six years.
Fr Gerry was a prolific writer, publishing about 80 books and countless articles. He was gregarious and engaging, warm and ever charming. Fr O'Collins died on Thursday, 22 August in Melbourne.
He was 93 years old. I had the great privilege of living with Gerry in 2019 and 2020. He was a joy to live with.
Along with others in the Faber Community in Parkville, Gerry showed me it was possible to live a full and rich Jesuit life right the way through. Fuller obituaries will come in the days ahead, I hope in these pages and no doubt elsewhere. This is a brief acknowledgment of a man with whom I lived and who showed me great generosity.
Until his last days, Fr Gerry had publishing projects. He thrived in the world of ideas. When I lived with him he was always interested in what I was up to.
He was interested to hear about what I, and other younger Jesuits, were studying, thinking about and what we were noticing in the culture. In our community, amongst men much younger than he, he was probably hardest hit by the Covid-lockdowns. Gerry had such a full social calendar.
He met friends each week for lunch, attended lectures in theology, classics and the...
Julian Butler.