‘The Catholic funeral liturgy expresses all sides of the mystery of death.’ Those were the words of the late Bishop Peter John Elliott, Bishop Emeritus of Melbourne, who was farewelled by family, friends, colleagues and the local faith community on Monday 18 August at a Solemn Pontifical Requiem Mass held at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.
Death and life were topics the late bishop often wrote about, as one of the Church’s leading scholars in the art of the sacred liturgy.
‘With Easter Joy, we celebrate the hope of resurrection for the person whose mortal body lies before the altar. Jesus Christ has freed us from the corruption of sin and death,’ he wrote. ‘With Christian sorrow, we mourn the death of a fellow human being, remembering that each of us must die one day. But in charity and confidence, as the Church on earth, we offer Masses and prayers for the souls of the departed, that they may enjoy light, pardon, and peace for ever.’
Monday’s liturgical celebration—with each reading, hymn and liturgical vestment personally chosen by the late bishop—was a beautiful expression of life’s triumph over death. ‘Our rites, especially the Mass for the Dead, are not mere memorial services,’ the bishop once wrote. ‘In the Communion of saints, we are joined to millions of believers who have died before us. We can help them by our prayers. They can pray for us. We hope that one day we will all rejoice together in heaven.’
The Most Rev Peter A Comensoli, Archbishop of Melbourne, was the principal celebrant of the Mass, with concelebrating bishops and priests from across Australia. In his welcome, the Archbishop made particular mention of Bishop Elliott’s brother, Paul, and his wife Gillian, who helped care for Bishop Elliott in his final days. He also welcomed the many priests, bishops, deacons, apostolic and lay leaders who had worked with the late bishop over the years.
‘Among us today, I wish to acknowledge those who have been on the journey of faith and mission with Bishop Peter, especially in education and intellectual endeavours, liturgical renewal, marriage and family support.’
Archbishop Comensoli also shared a message from the Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, Archbishop Charles Balvo, sent on behalf of Pope Leo XIV.
His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, was saddened to learn of the death of Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Peter Elliott, and he sends condolences to you, the clergy and lay faithful of Melbourne, and to his brother, Paul Elliott and his family.
Recalling with gratitude his work in promoting the beauty of the Sacred Liturgy and scholarly efforts supporting marriage and family life, the Holy Father commends the late Bishop’s soul to the mercy of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
In a touching moment during the celebration, Bishop Elliott’s niece Vanessa shared a surprising discovery that had somehow made its way to her: a letter to a young Peter Elliott from none other than CS Lewis. ‘In 1954, the Elliott family struck up a friendship with CS Lewis and Joy Gresham,’ she shared, with the famous author encouraging the young Peter in his drawings.
Dear Peter Elliott,
Thank you very much for kindly writing to tell me that you like the Narnian books and for the pictures, which I thought very good, especially considering how hard lions are to draw. When I try, they always look like dogs. I too had imaginary countries when I was your age, both the kind one comes across and the kind one doesn’t. I think the second kind are the best in the long run. The Greshams had already told me about their adventures of meeting you, and I hope you had a nice Christmas and will have a lovely year in 1955.
Yours ever,
CS Lewis
During his homily, the Most Rev Geoffrey Jarrett, Bishop Emeritus of Lismore, described Bishop Elliott’s ‘extraordinary’ gift for promoting the sacred liturgy, ‘illuminating its meaning and describing its proper celebration’.
This gift, said Bishop Jarrett, was likely influenced by Bishop Elliott’s early life and formation as the son of an Anglican vicar.
‘We may take it that the sensibilities for which Peter was later to be known were formed in that world of the classical English of the Book of Common Prayer, the Authorised Version of the Bible and the Coverdale Psalter, of the melodious Anglican chant at Matins and Evensong, the canticles sung to Stanford in G, and the devout reverence of the early Sunday morning Communion service. From here came the young Peter’s sense of the sacred, the first experiences of what the psalm means “to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”, “to go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness”.
‘And the beginning too of his sense of the Church, reflected in the noble tradition of Anglican hymnody: The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is his new creation, by water and the word. From heaven he came and sought her, to be his holy Bride; with his own Blood he bought her, and for her life he died.’
Bishop Jarrett shared how—perhaps a sign of things to come—in the seminary, a young Peter Elliott expressed bemusement at the popularity of the English translation of Mao’s Little Red Book, ‘a product of Mao’s unamusing Cultural Revolution’. In response, the late bishop produced and distributed a Little Yellow Book containing the thoughts of Jesus Christ, as quoted from the gospels.
Like his hero St John Henry Newman, Bishop Elliott’s life was ‘all of a piece throughout’, reflected Bishop Jarrett, ‘seamlessly evangelical and catholic’. To those who knew the young Bishop Elliott, it seemed inevitable that he would eventually enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. He did so at a time when the Western world was going through its own ‘Cultural Revolution’, explained Bishop Jarrett. ‘There was a struggle going on, with confusion and many upset to absorb the practical consequences of the Second Vatican Council.
‘In that age of the new and the different, anything of the past or smacking of tradition was to be cast aside. But having experienced the consequences of one Reformation, Peter was not going to have part with those who seemed to be welcoming a second. From his pen there came a succession of topical and catechetical pamphlets, published by the Australian Catholic Truth Society, and a Prayer Book for the Jubilee, the Holy Year of 1975. He dedicated it “To Mary, and all, with her, who love the Church”.’
Bishop Jarrett also acknowledged the role that a young Fr Elliott played in the building up of a diverse group of young Catholic thinkers in Australia, ‘men and women mostly in early years of professional life, but many undergraduates as well’. The group called themselves the John XXIII Fellowship, ‘meeting once a year and becoming an informal lay thinktank with the interests of the Church at heart ... It was a milieu to which the young Fr Elliott made a unique contribution.
‘Transforming after some years into the Campion Fellowship, its maturing members appeared at quite a number of touch points of influence in the Church, and various secular professions in this country. It produced its ultimate fruit in the foundation of Campion College.’
Along with Bishop Elliott’s scholarly endeavours, his early pastoral ministry saw him serve in the parishes of Springvale, Lilydale and Mentone, where he was also secretary to Bishop John A Kelly (1979–1984), and later in East Hampton. ‘Fr Peter loved above all the pastoral life of his early parish appointments,’ shared Bishop Jarrett, ‘and people who went to him then, or later, with questions and problems found him generous with his time, his kindness and his counsel.’
A gifted scholar and teacher, Fr Elliott undertook doctoral studies at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, specialising in the theology of marriage, and in 1987 was appointed an official of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Over the next decade, he travelled extensively, representing the Holy See at international gatherings, including United Nations conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing.
Upon his return to Melbourne in 1997, he served as Episcopal Vicar for Religious Education and was called on ‘to redeploy his other gifts in drawing up a new catechetical series for teaching the faith across the 12 years of Catholic school education,’ Bishop Jarrett recalled.
‘To Know, Worship and Love set a whole new standard for school catechesis in Australia, welcomed and appreciated not least by the teachers themselves.’
Bishop Elliott authored numerous books and articles on theology, liturgy, marriage and catechesis. He also went on to serve as parish priest of East Malvern and director of the Melbourne campus of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him an Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, responsible for the Southern Region of the Archdiocese.
‘It is now 18 years since the Church entrusted to Bishop Peter the apostolic tradition in a definitive way, ordaining him a successor of the Apostles,’ said Bishop Jarrett. ‘In these past 18 years, he has moved around our communities doing exactly as we read of Paul and Barnabas in the Acts of the Apostles—putting fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith—doing this through the sacraments, his spot-on teaching and preaching, his sound advice and insights, his support of the clergy, all spiced with wit and good humour.’
Fittingly, the bishop ended his homily with words from the soon-to-be Doctor of the Church St John Henry Newman.
Softly and gently, dearly ransomed soul,
In my most loving arms I now enfold thee.
Angels, to whom the willing task is given,
shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou liest;
And Masses on the earth, and prayers in heaven,
shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most Highest.
Farewell, but not for ever! brother dear,
Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;
Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,
And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.
—The Dream of Cerontius
