Vale Rev Prof Gerald (Gerry) O’Collins SJ AC

Catholic Theological College (CTC) and the University of Divinity mourn the passing of our esteemed colleague Prof Gerald O’Collins SJ AC (1931–2024).

Fr Gerald was a churchman and scholar of international and national significance, and his great capacities for scholarship, friendship, networking and supporting future generations of theologians and believers will be sorely missed. He received several honorary doctorates and in 2006 was made a Companion of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AC). Fr Gerald died in Melbourne on the evening of Thursday 22 August 2024.

Born in Melbourne into a family with active involvements in Church and politics, Fr Gerry graduated from Xavier College and the University of Melbourne and was ordained priest in the Society of Jesus in 1963.

After graduate studies at Heythrop College and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, Fr Gerry taught at Boston College, Massachusetts, and with the United Faculty of Theology (in the Melbourne College of Divinity), teaching at Jesuit Theological College and CTC in the early 1970s.

In 1973, Fr Gerry took up a teaching position at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he served in a number of positions, including as Dean of the Theology Faculty, until 2006. He held honorary positions with St Mary’s University Twickenham in the United Kingdom and at the Australian Catholic University. Returning to reside in Parkville, Fr Gerry was generous in his support for CTC and the University of Divinity, as honorary researcher, research supervisor and mentor to staff and students.

Fr Gerald was a prodigious writer, publishing for academic, professional and popular audiences. He published hundreds of articles and more than 75 books on theological topics. At the centre of Fr Gerry’s academic work was the figure of Jesus Christ, whose presence, person, work, priesthood, beauty, inter-religious significance and spiritual richness enlivened Gerry’s theological imagination, and communication of whom energised Gerry’s unstoppable output. His texts on Christology and his international collaboration and publications on key topics in Christology—resurrection, Trinity, incarnation, redemption—are a reference point in the discipline.

He was an expert on and an advocate of the Second Vatican Council, especially its Dogmatic Constitution of Divine Revelation. This document’s rich understanding of tradition and Scripture provided the basis for his strong ecumenical commitments, as well as his life-long engagement with biblical scholarship. Fr Gerry also published on the popes, on his own family history, and on the experiences of his life and work around the world.

Gerry’s intelligence, humour and kindness endeared him to friends old and new. He relished the company of friends and colleagues, and maintained warm contacts with family and friends as well as his fellow Jesuits. During his decades in Rome, he was highly regarded by faculty and students, in particular the many international students (including Australian graduate priests) he encouraged and supported as doctoral supervisor and as dean.

Always a pastor at heart, Fr Gerry offered retreats and spiritual direction to many communities and individuals. He was a highly valued member of the Order of Malta, serving as Principal Chaplain to the Subpriory of the Immaculate Conception in Victoria.

We give thanks to God for the life and work of Fr Gerald O’Collins SJ and commend him to the risen Lord, whom he so wholeheartedly served in this world. We extend our condolences and prayers to the Society of Jesus and to Fr Gerry’s family and friends.