austraLasia #2322
"He faced death with faith, wisdom and his own sense of joyful hope"
Death of former AUL provincial, Fr Ian Murdoch
GAWLER (South Australia): 8th January 2009: "He faced death with faith, wisdom and his own sense of joyful hope", write the current Australian Provincial, Fr Frank Moloney, speaking of the death, early on the morning of 8th January, of Fr Ian Murdoch, who concluded his term as Provincial of the Australia-Pacific Province just three years ago. Ian was sixty at the time of his death, another relatively young loss to the Province and in fact th third of its provincials to die in his sixties.
Ian came from an area a little north of Gawler known as Port Pirie and attended the Salesian school there. The school continues but the Salesians withdrew from Port Pirie some years ago. It was, in a sense, a 'from the deserts the prophets come' situation. Port Pirie is situated (more or less, give or take a hundred kilometres, which is nothing in this country) on the edge of the great Australian desert, an industrial city with huge lead-zinc smelters, part of the 'iron triangle' including Whyalla and Port Augusta. But as we know so well, humble origins often give rise to great men. Ian is in that class from whichever way you look at it; leadership, scholarship, urbanity and, yes, cricket.
Please pray for Ian, the family that remained so close to him and physically so through these last months especially, his Salesian confreres, in particular those like Fr Germano Baiguini who looked after Ian at Gawler until the end, and the Salesian Province which he loved, led but, since we believe like him in the communion of saints, has not left. We have a fine province in that dimension of communion too!
As it is mid-summer holidays in Australia, and Gawler is a long way from Melbourne, where the Salesian cemetery is, funeral arrangements have not yet been concluded. Ian will be buried at 'Rupertswood', the Province's mother house.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2008 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
Title: australasia 2322
Subject and key words:
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2322
"He faced death with faith, wisdom and his own sense of joyful hope"
Death of former AUL provincial, Fr Ian Murdoch
GAWLER (South Australia): 8th January 2009: "He faced death with faith, wisdom and his own sense of joyful hope", write the current Australian Provincial, Fr Frank Moloney, speaking of the death, early on the morning of 8th January, of Fr Ian Murdoch, who concluded his term as Provincial of the Australia-Pacific Province just three years ago. Ian was sixty at the time of his death, another relatively young loss to the Province and in fact th third of its provincials to die in his sixties.
Ian came from an area a little north of Gawler known as Port Pirie and attended the Salesian school there. The school continues but the Salesians withdrew from Port Pirie some years ago. It was, in a sense, a 'from the deserts the prophets come' situation. Port Pirie is situated (more or less, give or take a hundred kilometres, which is nothing in this country) on the edge of the great Australian desert, an industrial city with huge lead-zinc smelters, part of the 'iron triangle' including Whyalla and Port Augusta. But as we know so well, humble origins often give rise to great men. Ian is in that class from whichever way you look at it; leadership, scholarship, urbanity and, yes, cricket.
Please pray for Ian, the family that remained so close to him and physically so through these last months especially, his Salesian confreres, in particular those like Fr Germano Baiguini who looked after Ian at Gawler until the end, and the Salesian Province which he loved, led but, since we believe like him in the communion of saints, has not left. We have a fine province in that dimension of communion too!
As it is mid-summer holidays in Australia, and Gawler is a long way from Melbourne, where the Salesian cemetery is, funeral arrangements have not yet been concluded. Ian will be buried at 'Rupertswood', the Province's mother house.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2008 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
Title: australasia 2322
Subject and key words:
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2322
