On 10 January 2024, the people of God in Melbourne received the sad news that Rev Mgr Gerard James Diamond MA (Oxon) DTheol LSS PE had died that morning at Cabrini Hospital, Malvern, aged 81 years.
For more than 56 years, Mgr Diamond used his significant pastoral gifts to serve the Church, providing, in the words of Vicar General Fr Joseph Caddy, a ‘fine example to both his brother priests and the community’.
‘The Archdiocese is most grateful for his gentle, kind and unassuming service to the Church of Melbourne,’ Fr Caddy said in his announcement of Mgr Diamond’s death.
After his ordination on 22 July 1967, Fr Diamond served as Assistant Priest at the parishes of Eltham (1967), Ferntree Gully (1968), Glen Huntly (1969) and Oakleigh (1970). In 1970, he travelled to Oxford to study oriental languages and to qualify for a licence in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (Biblicum) in Rome. Upon his return to Melbourne in 1974, he was appointed Assistant Priest at Jordanville Parish before taking up an appointment in 1975 as Moderator at Corpus Christi College, Clayton. In 1977, Fr Diamond was appointed a censor of books for the Archdiocese of Melbourne, and served as Master of Catholic Theological College from 1977 to 1983.
In October 1983, he returned to Rome for doctoral studies in Sacred Scripture at the Biblicum and, after four years, completed a doctorate in theology at the Melbourne College of Divinity. He held a brief appointment as Assistant Priest again at Glen Huntly (from 1988) and then became Parish Priest in 1992—a role he served in for over 25 years. Along with this appointment, Fr Diamond was appointed Parish Priest of Caulfield Parish in 2003. Upon his retirement on 10 January 2018, Mgr Diamond was appointed Pastor Emeritus.
On 9 May 2012, Pope Benedict XVI nominated Fr Diamond as a Chaplain of His Holiness, in recognition of his leadership as Master of Catholic Theological College, and was thus given the title of ‘Monsignor’.
‘As a man of study and learning,’ Fr Caddy said, ‘Mgr Diamond’s special gifts and talents will be greatly missed.’
Photos courtesy of Catholic Theological College.
