"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.
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Title: australasia 2322
Subject and key words:
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2322
