Mass for the Funeral of Father Maurice Joseph Catarinich

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Anne’s Church, East Kew,
on Friday, 18th November, 2005, at 12.00pm

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

With his two surviving sisters, Joan and Thea, members of his family, parishioners in this parish where he ministered for twenty-six years, and so many friends, we gather to pray for the repose of the soul of Father Maurice Joseph Catarinich, who died on Tuesday last in the eighty-ninth year of his life and the sixty-third year of his priesthood.

Maurice was a wise and faithful priest, of great skill and competence, dedicated to his people, self-effacing in the service which he gave.  His legacy is one of unity with the Church in its teaching authority and in its care for the people of God.

As we thank God for his life and recognise him with esteem, we pray for the repose of his soul, that we may come to be one with him in our true home in heaven.

Homily

“Our priestly life and activity continue the life and activity of Christ Himself.  Here lies our identity, our true dignity, the source of our joy, the very basis of our life.” (John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis, 18)

Today as we farewell Father Maurice Catarinich, we cannot escape seeing how he worked tirelessly in the likeness of Christ, the Good Shepherd.  In his generous work, whether as an Assistant, as a gifted marriage counsellor, in seeking to provide happy families as the environment in which young people can grow and flourish, or as a Parish Priest, Maurice Catarinich was constant, persevering, faithful, ever-loyal to the Church and to its teaching.

Maurice Joseph Catarinich was born at Beechworth on 15th April, 1917, the fifth of eight children of Dr. John Catarinich and Nora Mouat.  His father, Doctor John, was a gifted psychiatrist and a Director of the Mental Health Authority in Victoria.  The family lived first at Beechworth, then at Mont Park, before later residing at Kew.

Maurice was educated at Our Lady’s College, Heidelberg, and together with his brothers did secondary education at Saint Patrick’s College, East Melbourne, where he was a gifted and competent student.  He entered Corpus Christi Seminary in March, 1936.  His colleagues knew him as a very approachable man, while not a great conversationalist.  He was a faithful and hardworking student.

Upon his Ordination on 25th July, 1943, by Archbishop Mannix, he was appointed to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral for a temporary appointment, spent six and a half years as Assistant at Ascot Vale, a year at North Melbourne, before returning to the Cathedral to be an Assistant for two years and was finally appointed to the Catholic Marriage Guidance Bureau on 17th January, 1953.

He worked with great zeal and wholehearted commitment before he became Parish Priest of East Kew on 13th August, 1966, and was appointed Pastor Emeritus on 3rd June, 1992.

On the occasion of his Golden Jubilee Archbishop Frank Little wrote of his time in the Marriage Guidance Bureau, “You took up work so close to your own heart.  You surrounded yourself with people of expert advice from the professions required to support you.  You carried a heavy workload and made a great outreach and gave immensely enriching support to many young couples as they sought to fulfil their vocation in married life.  The results of your labours are found in the happy couples, who still remember your ministry.”  (Archbishop T.F. Little, 22nd May, 1992.)

From 1953 he had gathered around him many expert helpers.  Doctors John and Lyn Billings remember him as a man of solid faith and belief that the Lord would provide his Church with an appropriate solution to the problems of family planning.  Indeed, when visiting schools and finding so many suffering children from unhappy homes, Maurice was inspired to assist with marriages. 

Doctor John Billings was asked to help him for three months; this association has lasted fifty years.  The Doctors Billings and the members of the Ovulation Method Billings have known him as the appointed censor of their texts.  In 1974 Cardinal Knox appointed him Ecclesiastical Adviser to the Billings Method, a task he undertook cheerfully for many years.  In their offices he consumed a huge number of plates of soup for nourishment!

He was recognised as a man who was extremely wise, with an analytical brain and a marvellous marriage counsellor.  Two vignettes from this time: – One, the line that his counselling techniques were so good and he had such sensitivity, that an experienced doctor once said, “He could get the women pregnant over the telephone.”!

Two, the anthology of Australian Catholic Women’s Stories speaks of the value of Cana Conferences and the offer he made at the end of each of them to meet any couples with problems not covered in the course. 

One such couple went along and while the husband was outlining all that he was doing and highlighting the inadequacies of his wife, Father Catarinich seeing that the wife had fallen silent, said to her, “And what is it that you are afraid of?”  Immediately, the wife felt free to speak of something that had burdened her life for a long time, and together with the couple he worked out an appropriate strategy, which would bring wellbeing to the wife and to the marriage.

Father Maurice was always immensely proud that the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI on the regulation of human birth was published on his ordination anniversary, 25th July, 1968, the Feast of Saint James.  He had an extraordinary insight into the psychology of married people.

Parishioners here at East Kew will remember his generous and loyal service.  He was always a man of the Church.  He would not be highly regarded as a conversationalist, but if asked a question he would give a complete answer.  The same could be said of his sermons – complete, analytical, and articulate.  One lady did complain, however, that the thoroughness of his sermons gave her a headache.

The unending heavy demands of the Cana Conferences and of the marriage counselling meant that he was ready to return to normal parish ministry in August 1966, coming here to East Kew.  He is remembered as a generous and faith-filled pastor, one who preferred substance to unnecessary chatter, who was ever loyal and faithful to the Magisterium; a man of the priesthood, a man of the Church. 

By 1992 the years had caught up with him and he was appointed Pastor Emeritus on 3rd June in that year and moved into the Justin Villa residence as soon as it was opened.  His later years have been burdened with ill health and increasing shortness of breath.  He remained an avid reader of newspapers, a quiet, serene, undemonstrative man, but ever a priest, a man of faith and of generosity. 

To his siblings, Doctor John, Margaret, Doctor Eileen, Doctor Frank and Mona, who are deceased, to his living relatives, Joan and Thea and their families, and to so many people who have benefited from his wisdom we extend our sympathy as now we are united praying for the repose of his soul.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.