Vale Archbishop Frank Little

By Bishop Christopher Prowse

Archbishop Thomas Francis Little was born at Moonee Ponds on 30 November 1925. He was the son of Gerald Thompson Little, who was a well known Melbourne civil engineer and surveyor, and his wife, Kathleen Annie McCormack.

His family settled in Essendon. This began a great love of Archbishop Little for the Essendon Football Club which he remained devoted to throughout his whole life. He was educated firstly at St Columba’s School, Essendon and then at St Monica’s Christian Brothers’ College, Moonee Ponds. His secondary education was conducted at St Patrick’s College, Ballarat where he was a boarder.

Archbishop Little often drew attention to the importance of the experience he had at the age of seven or eight. Young Frank, late one night, got out of bed and walked silently down the passageway of the family home in Leslie Rd, Essendon. The door at the end of the passage was his father’s study. As he looked through the open door he could see his father kneeling with his head in his hands praying in a dim light. For most of his adult life Archbishop Little described this as one of the definitive moments of his entire life; he was quoted as saying “the man expressing faith came as a terrific shock to me. There was an obvious sense of adoration in the body. My father lost a leg in the First World War, so kneeling was particularly difficult. I guess for me that is the instant flashback of the graced moment”.

In 1943 he entered Corpus Christi College, Werribee to begin studies for the priesthood. In 1947 he continued his studies at Propaganda Fide College, Rome and was ordained in the Chapel of the College on 3 October 1950 by Cardinal Fumasoni Biondi. After his ordination he pursued his studies for a further three years. In 1953 he obtained a doctorate through the Urban University in Rome.

On his return to Melbourne in 1953 he was appointed Assistant Priest at Carlton and later on Assistant Priest at St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1955. This began a long association of the young priest, Fr Little, with St Patrick’s Cathedral. Apart from a three year period from 1956-1959 when he was Secretary to the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Romolo Carboni, in Sydney, he remained at St Patrick’s Cathedral both as Assistant Priest and later in 1965 as Dean of the Cathedral. In January 1971 he was appointed Parish Priest at St Ambrose, Brunswick. During these years and the earlier years in Carlton he was directly involved in a busy pastoral life, particularly assisting newly arrived Italian migrants to Australia to settle into their new surroundings. For many years afterwards Catholic Italians would proudly proclaim to others that the weddings of their parents and grandparents were blessed by the young Fr Frank Little.

Apart from his pastoral involvements in the inner suburban Melbourne parishes he also, in this period of time, became increasingly involved in ecumenical endeavours, particularly with the Catholic and the Anglican Churches. This great love for ecumenism became even more pronounced later on when he became Archbishop of Melbourne. He was also a member and Chair of the Victorian Action for World Development ecumenical network, and became the Episcopal Vicar for the Apostolate of the Laity. For most of his priesthood he was a chaplain to the Teams of Our Lady. In all these activities he showed enormous energy and dedication to the importance of the Catholic laity in the life of the Church. He also was one of the chief organisers for the monumentally important International Eucharistic Congress held in Melbourne in 1973. It was during this Congress that he was ordained a Bishop on 21 February 1973 by Cardinal James Knox at St Patrick’s Cathedral. He became the Titular Bishop of Temuniana and Auxiliary Bishop to the Archdiocese of Melbourne. As a Regional Bishop he resided at St Monica’s, Moonee Ponds and was given pastoral responsibility to the north western sections of Melbourne.

On 1 July 1974 he was appointed to succeed Cardinal Knox as the Archbishop of Melbourne. Archbishop Little sometimes spoke about the shock of being appointed the new Archbishop of Melbourne. “I think it was more of a shock. One Saturday afternoon I was at Moonee Ponds with a friend who was a Collingwood supporter. We were preparing to go to the Essendon¬Collingwood match at Windy Hill. I was told there was a foreigner on the phone. It was the Pro-nuncio who said the Holy Father had chosen me for the See of Melbourne. Two minutes later he said ‘are you still there?’. I said I would call him the next day. I rang him on the morrow after a brilliant Essendon victory. I think I said that if that was the wish of the Holy Father I would have to accept it.”

Archbishop Little was the Archbishop of Melbourne for almost 22 years, from 1974 until 1996. His style as a leader in this city did not attract enormous media attention. This is because his approach was often more personal and felt at a grassroots level. There was and remains an enormous sense of love and gratitude by over one million Catholics in Melbourne to Archbishop Little’s constant visitation and care for them in the 232 parishes of the Archdiocese. One priest was heard to have said about Archbishop Little’s administration that “he let things happen, he let us do things, but he worried all the time, while still trusting us”. He was painstaking in decisions and often became anxious as he established new initiatives in the Archdiocese, particularly in the structuring of the Archdiocese and development of lay initiatives. During his time as Archbishop he saw the establishment of 28 new parishes, 61 parish primary schools and 14 secondary colleges. He was indefatigable in encouraging such communities to be places of strong faith formation and to ensure that such communities were always places of dedicated pastoral zeal.

As he had done during his priesthood, so also as Archbishop, he devoted himself strenuously to developing ecumenical bonds here in Melbourne. His profound friendship with the late Archbishop Frank Woods, the former Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, was legendary and really did assist many communities to likewise form friendship bonds with different Christian communities throughout Melbourne.

In 1977 he was created a Knight Commander of the British Empire. On 10 April 1992 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity, particularly for his work in ecumenism and education in the Archdiocese.

Catholics in Melbourne will always remember Archbishop Little as a kindly, humble and sincere man. He had a profound spirituality that touched the common people who have always regarded him as a man of great personal holiness. He was always the first one to encourage his brother priests and parishioners from his huge Archdiocese. Letter-writing and cards of thanks were often received by different people and different groups around the Archdiocese over his many years of service. He would be reluctant to forget the kindnesses offered him and would be always keen to repay a kindness with another kindness.

A typical expression of thanks to others would be to try to reach out to thank people personally for the continuing love of the Church and he would always encourage them to express that faith in action. Such a shining example of Catholic holiness will continue to live on in the hearts of the Catholic community of Melbourne for many years yet.

As published in Kairos Catholic Journal (Vol 19 No 6, 20 April - 3 May 2008)



	Vale Archbishop Frank Little By Bishop Christopher Prowse Archbishop Thomas Francis Little was born at Moonee Ponds on 30 November 1925. He was the son of Gerald Thompson Little, who was a well known Melbourne civil engineer and surveyor, and his wife, Kathleen Annie McCormack. His family settled in Essendon. This began a great love of Archbishop Little for the Essendon Football Club which he remained devoted to throughout his whole life. He was educated firstly at St Columba’s School, Essendon and then at St Monica’s Christian Brothers’ College, Moonee Ponds. His secondary education was conducted at St Patrick’s College, Ballarat where he was a boarder. Archbishop Little often drew attention to the importance of the experience he had at the age of seven or eight. Young Frank, late one night, got out of bed and walked silently down the passageway of the family home in Leslie Rd, Essendon. The door at the end of the passage was his father’s study. As he looked through the open door he could see his father kneeling with his head in his hands praying in a dim light. For most of his adult life Archbishop Little described this as one of the definitive moments of his entire life; he was quoted as saying “the man expressing faith came as a terrific shock to me. There was an obvious sense of adoration in the body. My father lost a leg in the First World War, so kneeling was particularly difficult. I guess for me that is the instant flashback of the graced moment”. In 1943 he entered Corpus Christi College, Werribee to begin studies for the priesthood. In 1947 he continued his studies at Propaganda Fide College, Rome and was ordained in the Chapel of the College on 3 October 1950 by Cardinal Fumasoni Biondi. After his ordination he pursued his studies for a further three years. In 1953 he obtained a doctorate through the Urban University in Rome. On his return to Melbourne in 1953 he was appointed Assistant Priest at Carlton and later on Assistant Priest at St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1955. This began a long association of the young priest, Fr Little, with St Patrick’s Cathedral. Apart from a three year period from 1956-1959 when he was Secretary to the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Romolo Carboni, in Sydney, he remained at St Patrick’s Cathedral both as Assistant Priest and later in 1965 as Dean of the Cathedral. In January 1971 he was appointed Parish Priest at St Ambrose, Brunswick. During these years and the earlier years in Carlton he was directly involved in a busy pastoral life, particularly assisting newly arrived Italian migrants to Australia to settle into their new surroundings. For many years afterwards Catholic Italians would proudly proclaim to others that the weddings of their parents and grandparents were blessed by the young Fr Frank Little. Apart from his pastoral involvements in the inner suburban Melbourne parishes he also, in this period of time, became increasingly involved in ecumenical endeavours, particularly with the Catholic and the Anglican Churches. This great love for ecumenism became even more pronounced later on when he became Archbishop of Melbourne. He was also a member and Chair of the Victorian Action for World Development ecumenical network, and became the Episcopal Vicar for the Apostolate of the Laity. For most of his priesthood he was a chaplain to the Teams of Our Lady. In all these activities he showed enormous energy and dedication to the importance of the Catholic laity in the life of the Church. He also was one of the chief organisers for the monumentally important International Eucharistic Congress held in Melbourne in 1973. It was during this Congress that he was ordained a Bishop on 21 February 1973 by Cardinal James Knox at St Patrick’s Cathedral. He became the Titular Bishop of Temuniana and Auxiliary Bishop to the Archdiocese of Melbourne. As a Regional Bishop he resided at St Monica’s, Moonee Ponds and was given pastoral responsibility to the north western sections of Melbourne. On 1 July 1974 he was appointed to succeed Cardinal Knox as the Archbishop of Melbourne. Archbishop Little sometimes spoke about the shock of being appointed the new Archbishop of Melbourne. “I think it was more of a shock. One Saturday afternoon I was at Moonee Ponds with a friend who was a Collingwood supporter. We were preparing to go to the Essendon¬Collingwood match at Windy Hill. I was told there was a foreigner on the phone. It was the Pro-nuncio who said the Holy Father had chosen me for the See of Melbourne. Two minutes later he said ‘are you still there?’. I said I would call him the next day. I rang him on the morrow after a brilliant Essendon victory. I think I said that if that was the wish of the Holy Father I would have to accept it.” Archbishop Little was the Archbishop of Melbourne for almost 22 years, from 1974 until 1996. His style as a leader in this city did not attract enormous media attention. This is because his approach was often more personal and felt at a grassroots level. There was and remains an enormous sense of love and gratitude by over one million Catholics in Melbourne to Archbishop Little’s constant visitation and care for them in the 232 parishes of the Archdiocese. One priest was heard to have said about Archbishop Little’s administration that “he let things happen, he let us do things, but he worried all the time, while still trusting us”. He was painstaking in decisions and often became anxious as he established new initiatives in the Archdiocese, particularly in the structuring of the Archdiocese and development of lay initiatives. During his time as Archbishop he saw the establishment of 28 new parishes, 61 parish primary schools and 14 secondary colleges. He was indefatigable in encouraging such communities to be places of strong faith formation and to ensure that such communities were always places of dedicated pastoral zeal. As he had done during his priesthood, so also as Archbishop, he devoted himself strenuously to developing ecumenical bonds here in Melbourne. His profound friendship with the late Archbishop Frank Woods, the former Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, was legendary and really did assist many communities to likewise form friendship bonds with different Christian communities throughout Melbourne. In 1977 he was created a Knight Commander of the British Empire. On 10 April 1992 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity, particularly for his work in ecumenism and education in the Archdiocese. Catholics in Melbourne will always remember Archbishop Little as a kindly, humble and sincere man. He had a profound spirituality that touched the common people who have always regarded him as a man of great personal holiness. He was always the first one to encourage his brother priests and parishioners from his huge Archdiocese. Letter-writing and cards of thanks were often received by different people and different groups around the Archdiocese over his many years of service. He would be reluctant to forget the kindnesses offered him and would be always keen to repay a kindness with another kindness. A typical expression of thanks to others would be to try to reach out to thank people personally for the continuing love of the Church and he would always encourage them to express that faith in action. Such a shining example of Catholic holiness will continue to live on in the hearts of the Catholic community of Melbourne for many years yet. As published in Kairos Catholic Journal (Vol 19 No 6, 20 April - 3 May 2008)