ROME: 24 July 2005 -- The Regional Superior for East
Asia-Oceania, Fr Vaclav Klement, today confirmed that the Rector Major
with his Council has appointed Fr Francis Moloney as Provincial for the
Australian Province. The announcement has officially been made
also in the Province today. Fr Moloney will replace Fr Ian
Murdoch, whose term draws to a close at the end of this year.
Fr Frank Moloney (the familiar form is a feature of
Australian naming) needs little introduction almost anywhere in the
Religious and Salesian world. He was born on 23rd March 1940 in
the Melbourne suburb of Essendon, made his novitiate in 1960 at
Sunbury, Melbourne, the motherhouse of the Australian Province, did his
practical training there and was ultimately ordained in that same House
in 1970. He pursued theolgical studies at what is now the UPS and
continued his studies after ordination, which included a Ph.D. from
Oxford University. Frank taught at the UPS, returning eventually
to Australia where he was appointed Rector of the theological community
at Oakleigh. He was Vice Provincial for a period, Rector of
Brunswick community in Melbourne and continued to teach, write and
contribute to the wider ecclesial, religious and academic scene, both
in Australia and abroad. This included appointment as founding
professor of theology at the Australian Catholic University, his role
as founding editor of the Pacifica, a theological magazine, his
long membership of the International Theological Commission, his
recognition by the Australian Government as a Member of the Order of
Australia, and his appointment as a Fellow of the Australian
Academy of the Humanities, the first theologian to be appointed to that
body.
His international fame as Scripture scholar
inevitably meant invitations to take up posts where he could further
contribute to biblical scholarship, especially the New Testament and
more especially the Gospels of John and Mark. By this stage he
was the natural successor to a distinguished name like Raymond
Brown and in fact completed the publishing of that scholar's final
manuscipt as a posthumous tribute. Frank held the Katherine
Drexel Chair of Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America
in Washington, and then became Dean of the School of Theology and
Religious Studies there on the death of the incumbent Monsignor Stepehn
Happel in late 2003. There is little doubt that the invitations did not
stop there.
Significantly, Frank has never lost touch with the
Australian Province during these busy years overseas, returning
regularly to family and community, and despite the accolades of
academia, has never lost the personal touch. Indeed those
accolades frequently include mention of that, and a unique ability to
educate in ordinary language which does not belie depth of scholarship.
It is expected that the official installation of the
new provincial and expression of gratitude to the incumbent provincial
will be on December 16.
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