‘A blessed time’: Bishop Elect Fr Joe Caddy’s Melbourne story

Bishop Elect Fr Joseph (Joe) Caddy AM has fond childhood memories of approaching St Patrick’s Cathedral from the northern suburbs. ‘As a little kid, my father was in the Cathedral choir,’ he explains. ‘I can remember coming in, driving up Brunswick Street, and just seeing that cathedral right ahead of me,’ he says.

The spires of St Pat’s are emblematic of an Archdiocese and a community that have loomed large in Fr Joe’s story. From the earliest days of his vocation, he says, he was drawn to being a diocesan priest. ‘The priesthood that I joined is very much about the place, about the city that we live in and the diocese that we live in,’ he says. ‘So I’m a real Melbourne person. Soon to be a Cairns, Far North Queensland person,’ he adds, referring to his upcoming episcopal ordination and instalment as the new Bishop of Cairns.

The idea of priesthood was never too far away because I had an uncle who was a priest. And I saw the way he lived, and it was a very plausible possibility for me.

Fr Joe was in his early twenties and studying commerce at the University of Melbourne when he first began to discern a vocation to the priesthood. His studies weren’t really gripping him, he says, ‘and I was just wondering what options might be there for me. The idea of priesthood was never too far away because I had an uncle who was a priest. And I saw the way he lived, and it was a very plausible possibility for me.’

While becoming a priest wasn’t necessarily ‘front of mind’, he was happy to explore the idea. ‘People said, “Are you going to be a priest?” I said, “No, I’m going to the seminary.”‘ When he got there, though, he found the idea of the priesthood ‘sat well’ with him.

‘Learning a lot more about God and how God works in our lives’ was part of this discernment, he explains, but it was also about having ‘a real love of people’.

This love of being with people and accompanying them through life’s ups and downs has marked and motivated much of Fr Joe’s ministry through his years in Melbourne—years he describes as ‘a really blessed time, a blessed life’.

Starting out as an assistant priest at Maidstone, he went on to study social sciences at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, focusing on Catholic Social Teaching, before returning to work in social policy with Catholic Social Services. His interest and involvement in social policy and advocacy led to roles with CatholicCare (Greater Melbourne, Geelong and Gippsland), including as Chief Executive Officer from 2004 to 2017. While at CatholicCare, he also served as parish priest at Fitzroy and later East St Kilda, while also visiting prisons on the weekends.

Through many years of serving as a prison chaplain and working in social policy and advocacy, Fr Joe has seen firsthand some of the failings of our justice system. ‘As much as the state tries to address problem behaviour through the criminal justice system, prisons are pretty much a failure,’ he says matter-of-factly. ‘They don’t really do enough to bring people out any better than when they went in. In fact, quite often it’s the reverse: people pick up more skills and more contacts in prison.’

He believes that as a society, we need to find better ways to address problem behaviour, ‘because we know that it’s all those indicators of disadvantage—it’s disabilities, it’s over-representation of refugees, over-representation of our First Nations people in prisons. They’re not inherently bad people at all. They just haven’t had the opportunities that many others have had. We need to address the problems that we’ve got way upstream before we get the criminal behaviour that’s bringing people into prisons.’

A constant throughout Fr Joe’s ministry has been his focus on serving those on the margins. Looking back, he says much of his journey as a priest has been ‘about really being committed to people, especially those who are struggling and poor, and especially those who are just trying to work things out in their life, because life can be quite difficult for people.’

Other aspects of his experience in the Church have surprised him, including ‘the whole magnitude of the sexual abuse saga,’ he says. ‘I was not so much surprised that abuse had occurred, but at the time I was ordained, I had no idea of the extent of the problem. I have now met some of those who have been abused and seen how much damage it’s done to them. So anything we can do to repair that damage is necessary.’

I’ve always said yes when I’ve been asked to do things in the priesthood.

Another thing that took him by surprise is the course his ministry has taken in recent years. ‘I certainly wouldn’t have expected to be the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Melbourne’ he says. ‘But I’ve really enjoyed working with Archbishop Peter and I think we’ve been a good team.’

He says becoming Vicar General was ‘a steep learning curve’ and ‘quite a big role, but a very fulfilling one in a way, because it’s necessary work, but it can be quite challenging as well.’ He thinks incoming Vicar General Fr Tony Kerin will be ‘excellent’ in the role, describing him as ‘very capable’.

If Archbishop Comensoli’s invitation to become Vicar General and Episcopal Vicar for Social Services came out of the blue, then the recent call he received from Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Balvo, announcing that Pope Francis would like him to be Bishop of Cairns, really floored him. ‘I picked myself up and I said, “Can I think about it?” And he said, “Yeah, but not for long.”’

Fr Joe said yes to the Pope’s request ‘because I’ve always said yes when I’ve been asked to do things in the priesthood. I’m sure it will be quite an adventure, but it will be a wrench leaving Melbourne.’

When asked about the things that he’s been grateful for during his time as Vicar General, he jokes that ‘you always get a good seat in the liturgy, and a good car park’. Mostly, though, he’s thankful for the opportunity he’s had to work closely with priests who might need advice or ‘a bit of encouragement’, describing it as ‘a really joyful part of the role’.

He has also enjoyed working with the Archdiocese’s Clergy Life and Ministry team, who he says do an excellent job. And serving as parish priest at St Carthage’s in Parkville during his time as Vicar General has helped to ‘keep me grounded’ and given him ‘a nice base’.

Quite often it’s a whole system that needs to be developed or supported to help people through. Get those settings right and then people will thrive.

Many of Fr Joe’s earlier experiences as a priest and in Catholic social services have informed his approach to being Vicar General. One thing he says he’s picked up through Catholic Social Teaching and in some of his public advocacy work, for instance, is that ‘often you’ve got to look at the system’.

‘It’s not just an individual that’s at fault. Quite often it’s a whole system that needs to be developed or supported to help people through,’ he says. ‘Get those settings right and then people will thrive. In the absence of those structures, people can easily fall to the side.’ He hopes he’s been able to bring some of these insights to the role of Vicar General, ‘helping to improve the systems and not just addressing individual actions’.

Looking ahead to his new role as Bishop of Cairns, Fr Joe admits to being both excited and a little nervous.

‘I don’t know much about Cairns other than that it’s a beautiful place and I love going up to Port Douglas for my holidays in the middle of the Melbourne winter,’ he says. ‘So I’ve got a lot to learn in a big, sprawling diocese that goes from the Torres Strait Islands right down to around Tully and places like that and then right across through the Atherton Tablelands to the Northern Territory border, so it’s a huge area, very diverse communities.’

There are lots of things he says he’ll miss about his hometown, including the Cathedral and, of course, his family and friends. Despite the recent cold snap, he thinks he might even miss Melbourne’s weather. ‘To tell the truth, I do like four seasons,’ he says, ‘and we get them often in a single day in Melbourne.’

But he’s grateful for Cairns’ balmy climate too, especially since it might act as a drawcard for friends and family from down south. ‘I’m sure I’ll be getting lots of visits up to Cairns around this time of year,’ he says with a smile.