Address given by Archbishop Denis Hart at a Dinner to Honour Monsignor Thomas Doyle
Upon his Retirement as Director of Catholic Education

at the Atrium, Flemington Race Course,
on Tuesday, 24th September, 2002.

...

My dear Friends in Education,

This evening in paying tribute to Monsignor Tom Doyle as Director of Catholic Education for nearly twenty-three years, it is my privilege to recognise him above all as a priest of God and a man of the Church, whose interests always have been and remained those of our faith.

I hold in high esteem the generous and highly professional service he has rendered in parishes, in formation of priests, and in education, since his ordination on 21st July, 1962. Particularly in recent times I have noted him as a true professional, who could always be counted upon to give reliable objective advice and to place his skills and those of his many collaborators at the service of the Archdiocese.

In an age where people often focus their whole lives on individual perspectives and a personal search, this is a truly remarkable service, which he has provided personally and has coordinated in the gifted people of the Education Office. It is a complex and unified instrument, uniquely suited to serve the Church, the staffs and families of our schools and to ensure a unique Catholic contribution to the State of Victoria for so many years.

Many of you will know his achievements far better than I. He has been a person upon whom four successive archbishops could depend, that anything given to him would be achieved with distinction, always with the goal of enhancing the Church’s work in a particular area and never drawing attention to himself.

Cardinal Knox appointed him to the Education Office in January, 1968, and two years later he was Organising Secretary and Registrar of Catholic Theological College, a Federation of Seminaries for theological studies, formed at the initiative of Cardinal Knox. In addition, as tutor, lecturer and member of the Academic Board, he made a significant contribution to theological education. It is not surprising that he was also Prefect of Studies for Corpus Christi College.

This breadth of educational involvement is characteristic of him. In November, 1997, he completed twenty-four years as Director of Religious Education in the Archdiocese and has been Director of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese and Executive Director of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria since January, 1980, and Chairperson of that body since 1991. For a similar time he has been Deputy Chairman of the National Catholic Education Commission and Chairman of that body from 2001.

Yet a mere concentration on a list of achievements is totally inadequate. The selfless personal involvement with seminarians, with teachers and staff of the Education Office, with others on the Ministerial Committee on Religious Education and in the State Board of Education, gives us an indication of the extent of his contribution.

I very firmly believe that the position which Catholic education holds in Victoria and beyond is in no small way due to the credibility with which Monsignor Tom has related to governments in presenting the Church’s philosophy of education and commitment to our families and young people. He has articulated clearly and constantly the value of the Catholic vision for education and its contribution to the wider community.

The Melbourne Archdiocese esteems Monsignor Tom as a priest always ready to be of service to the Church here and beyond. He is a person whose friendship we have all enjoyed for so long and this is part of an ongoing continuum of his service to the Diocese. Under his leadership, our schools, are all part of the Universal Church within the particular Church of Melbourne. Everything he has done has been for that Church. It is typical of him that when asked to administer the parish of Alphington in March, 2000, he readily accepted and took on this additional burden at a time when many people could be expecting to ease off.

Education and the Church have been Tom Doyle’s life. He has given himself to us all with consummate skill. I know he will continue to serve in his new appointments with the same characteristic objectivity, unassuming humility, genuine charity and high level of professional competence, which have distinguished him in the truly remarkable service, which he has rendered to education since 1968 and to the Archdiocese since his ordination on 21st July, 1962.

Congratulations Monsignor Tom. Thank you for a truly unique, long-term service to education and for placing your exceptional gifts at the service of God in his Church. Thank you from the four archbishops whom you have served and from all of us here tonight. Well done, good and faithful servant. Ad multos annos.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.