Melbourne farewells Fr Joe Caddy

On Tuesday 6 August—his last day as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Melbourne before departing for Far North Queensland to take up his new role as Bishop of Cairns—Fr Joe Caddy was joined by friends, colleagues and brother priests from across the Archdiocese for a special farewell celebration in the Grand Ballroom of Melbourne’s Windsor Hotel.

Among those paying tribute to the guest of honour was his friend Fr Brendan Reed, who has known Fr Caddy for more than 40 years.

‘From the beginning of his seminary days he was not going to give himself over to a narrow and inwardly looking approach either to the priesthood or the Church’, Fr Reed observed.

He always had a strong sense of the Church as being the first fruits of all that God was up to in the world.

‘Is that why he would sneak off from the Seminary and train with the North Coburg Saints and during his first appointment as Assistant Priest (Maidstone) with the West Footscray Roosters? Is that why, despite the plethora of baroque churches in Rome, he would scoot out on his motorino and supply in the parish of San Patrizio, on the outskirts of Rome, saying Mass in a makeshift shopfront? Is that why, when back in Melbourne, his preferred Sunday supply was Port Philip Prison and working alongside the indefatigable Sr Mary O’Shannessy?

‘He always had a strong sense of the Church as being the first fruits of all that God was up to in the world,’ Fr Reed said. ‘In other words, he has never seen the Church as above or better, separate or sect, us and them. He has seen the Church as a community of the faithful People of God who are attuned, expert, alert, wired to the ways and desires of God for the life of the whole world.’

Fr Reed described Fr Caddy’s life and ministry as ‘a living out of the opening lines of Gaudium et Spes: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ” (§1)’, noting that Fr Caddy’s choice of episcopal motto— Esurientes Implevit Bonis (‘He fills the hungry with good things’) ‘brings the sentiment home even further’.

Fr Reed concluded by wishing Fr Caddy well in Cairns. ‘While many of us are mystified as to how a Bishop is chosen,’ he joked, ‘we are not mystified that you have been chosen and called to the episcopacy. You clearly display so many of the qualities that Pope Francis called for in his seminal exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.May you bring that joy of the Gospel and the fruits of that joy to the people of Cairns and beyond.’

You have said ‘yes’ whenever you’ve been asked, whatever form of ministry that might have been.

Archbishop Peter A Comensoli echoed many of Fr Reed’s sentiments, recalling that when he was first looking for someone to fill the Vicar General’s position when Greg Bennet left to become Bishop of Sale, ‘I kept coming back to Joe, not overly knowing you at that stage, but there was something about you already that I thought was quite outstanding.

‘So I made the call and we had a conversation, and you said “yes”. It’s that word that I just want to highlight. It’s been the pattern of Joe’s priestly life—I’m sure, before then too. You have said “yes” whenever you’ve been asked, whatever form of ministry that might have been.’

This response shows, Archbishop Comensoli said, ‘the sense of generosity and openness that is a part of the person of Joe Caddy, but also his priestly life and his service in the Church.’

The Archbishop described Fr Caddy’s ‘personable nature’ and preference for ‘phone call ministry’—his tendency to pick up the phone and say, ‘Can we talk?’ rather than send a letter or email—as ‘a very strong feature of how you’ve gone about your role as Vicar General … finding a way, person to person, rather than just coming in and doing what needs to be done.’

There’s a goodness and an understanding that is present in your life—generous and open, humble and grateful, willing and personal, understanding and just damn good.

Speaking admiringly of Fr Caddy’s gifts as a pastor, he said, ‘You bring people along.’ Rather than saying, ‘You have to do that’ or ‘What are you doing that for?’, he said, Fr Caddy’s approach is to say, ‘Let’s find a way.’

‘And there’s a goodness and an understanding that is present in your life in that regard—generous and open, humble and grateful, willing and personal, understanding and just damn good.’

Noting that ‘being sent’ is at the heart of the life of an apostle, Archbishop Comensoli wished Fr Caddy well ‘as you move now into this new phase of your giving of your life to the Lord and to God’s people in this way of being sent.

The Archbishop concluded by saying he was ‘looking forward to next week, when you are ordained bishop, and the years ahead, [when] we will continue together to be involved in the life of our Church here in Australia, you up north, me down south, and everything in between.’

I am through and through a Melbourne person, so there is pain in moving, in being wrenched away ... At the same time, there is a sense of excitement.

In his response, Fr Caddy quoted from David Malouf’s An Imaginary Life, in which the poet Ovid asks, ‘What else should our lives be but a continual series of beginnings, of painful settings out into the unknown, pushing off from the edges of consciousness into the mystery of what we have not yet become, except in dreams that blow in from out there bearing the fragrance of islands we have not yet sighted in our waking hours …?’

Admitting to sharing some of the poet’s mixed sentiments, he said, ‘I am through and through a Melbourne person, so there is pain in moving, in being wrenched away from those beloved tram tracks, the MCG, the suburbs I grew up and lived in, but even more so, the family, friends and Church that I know and love.

‘At the same time, there is a sense of excitement as I catch the fragrances of those distant places and anticipate a new life there.’

I have been asked to go on a journey to a new place, and there will be new stories to share ... But all of these new stories will continue in the context of all of the stories to this point, within the stories of Scripture and faith.

Reflecting that priesthood brings with it ‘some wonderful stories—the stories of people and communities, the stories of Scripture and faith,’ he said he had been ‘blessed to discover those stories in some wonderful ministries—in the social-welfare sector and the prisons; in parishes and in my friendships; in the priests that I have worked with and befriended, faithful, compassionate and hard-working men; and in the women and men who work together with us in our shared mission in parishes and the Archdiocese to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to a world in search of meaning and hope.

‘And now I have been asked to go on a journey to a new place, and there will be new stories to share. Stories of remote communities, ancient stories of first nations people in the Torres Strait Islands and people from the Gulf Country, the coasts and rainforests, and those from inland. There will be stories of fishing on the reef and crocodiles in the rivers; stories of warm winter days and summer cyclones. But all of these new stories will continue in the context of all of the stories to this point, within the stories of Scripture and faith.’