austraLasia #3044
Installation of Archbishop Tim Costelloe SDB, Perth, WA
PERTH -- Bishop Tim Costelloe was appointed as the Archbishop of Perth on 20th February 2012. He was formally installed as the Archbishop of Perth on Wednesday 21st March at St. Mary's Cathedral in Perth, Western Australia. The Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Lazzarotto and the outgoing Archbishop of Perth, Archbishop Hickey, led him to the 'Cathedra' as the formal act of taking possession of the Archdiocese. Archbishop Costelloe is the ninth Bishop (the 6th Archbishop, since the diocese was declared an Archdiocese in 1913) of the diocese. Tim is also the second Religious bishop to head the diocese, the first being Patrick Clune C.SS.R, who was Bishop at the time the diocese was raised to the status of an archdiocese.
The installation ceremony was attended by the Provincial and Vice Provincial of the Salesians (Frs Greg Chambers and Bernie Graham, respectively), the FMA Provincial, Sr Margaret Bentley, and other Salesians.
Here is an extract from Archbishop Costelloe's homily at the installation
".... Many of you know that I belong to the Religious Congregation, the Salesians of Don Bosco. Some years ago, the Superior General of the Salesians, Fr Pascual Chavez, speaking as the President of the Union of Superiors General in Rome, made an extraordinary and confronting statement. “The greatest challenge facing Religious Life today“, he said, “is to return Christ to the Religious Life and to return the Religious Life to Christ.” I’m sure that when they first heard these words, the leaders of the many Religious Congregations present must have been puzzled and even affronted. Perhaps they asked themselves how anyone could pose such a question to a group of people who were vowed to a life of obedience, poverty and chastity within the Church. At the risk of puzzling and even affronting people tonight I want to put the same challenge, to myself first of all, and then to all of us here. The greatest challenge facing the Church today is to return Christ to the Church and to return the Church to Christ. The greatest challenge facing each one of us today is to return Christ to our lives and return our lives to Christ. This is not a challenge to be something other than we are. It is a challenge to be more fully, more deeply and more openly what we already are.
The Second Vatican Council described the Church as a kind of sacrament, a living and effective sign, of the presence of Christ in the world as its healer, as its saviour. Saint Paul for his part, in a simple yet very profound way, described the Church as the Body of Christ. These two statements express both who we are and who we must become more and more each day. The society in which we live has great need of the light of Christ. It is our privilege and our duty to offer this light, this gift, to the world.
This is the task that is set before us as we begin this new chapter in the life of the Catholic Church here in the Archdiocese of Perth. Tonight I invite each one of you to continually ask yourself the question, “Where is Jesus in what I am doing?” As parents and children live your family lives together, what room have you made in your daily lives for Jesus? As priests and religious seek to be the Good Shepherds that tonight’s gospel speaks about, is Jesus really the treasure for which you are ready to give up everything else? As Parish Councils meet to plan the year ahead is Jesus really at the centre of all your planning? As Catholic schools and Colleges, universities and seminaries, move more fully into the academic year let yourselves be motivated by these words: The greatest challenge facing my school or college, university or seminary, the greatest challenge facing me in my classroom or lecture hall, is to return this place to Christ and return Christ to his rightful place. As diocesan agencies review your programmes and evaluate your outreach ask if, in meeting you, the people with whom and for whom you work are really meeting Christ. For once again, as Saint Paul reminds us, “We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.”
Since my appointment as the Archbishop of Perth was announced many people have asked me what my priorities are. I have given a variety of answers but in the end I would want to say this: I hope and pray that, through my ministry of service and leadership in the Archdiocese, all of us, the people who together are the community of the disciples of Christ, might become more and more, as the first Letter of Saint Peter puts it, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, so that we might proclaim the mighty deeds of him who has called us out of darkness into his own marvellous light”. That light is Jesus Christ. It is to him that we commit all that we have and all that we are. It is to him that we entrust the journey into the future which tonight we set out on together.
Christ be our Light. Shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness. Christ be our light, shine in your Church gathered today".
Installation of Archbishop Tim Costelloe SDB, Perth, WA
The installation ceremony was attended by the Provincial and Vice Provincial of the Salesians (Frs Greg Chambers and Bernie Graham, respectively), the FMA Provincial, Sr Margaret Bentley, and other Salesians.
Here is an extract from Archbishop Costelloe's homily at the installation
".... Many of you know that I belong to the Religious Congregation, the Salesians of Don Bosco. Some years ago, the Superior General of the Salesians, Fr Pascual Chavez, speaking as the President of the Union of Superiors General in Rome, made an extraordinary and confronting statement. “The greatest challenge facing Religious Life today“, he said, “is to return Christ to the Religious Life and to return the Religious Life to Christ.” I’m sure that when they first heard these words, the leaders of the many Religious Congregations present must have been puzzled and even affronted. Perhaps they asked themselves how anyone could pose such a question to a group of people who were vowed to a life of obedience, poverty and chastity within the Church. At the risk of puzzling and even affronting people tonight I want to put the same challenge, to myself first of all, and then to all of us here. The greatest challenge facing the Church today is to return Christ to the Church and to return the Church to Christ. The greatest challenge facing each one of us today is to return Christ to our lives and return our lives to Christ. This is not a challenge to be something other than we are. It is a challenge to be more fully, more deeply and more openly what we already are.
The Second Vatican Council described the Church as a kind of sacrament, a living and effective sign, of the presence of Christ in the world as its healer, as its saviour. Saint Paul for his part, in a simple yet very profound way, described the Church as the Body of Christ. These two statements express both who we are and who we must become more and more each day. The society in which we live has great need of the light of Christ. It is our privilege and our duty to offer this light, this gift, to the world.
This is the task that is set before us as we begin this new chapter in the life of the Catholic Church here in the Archdiocese of Perth. Tonight I invite each one of you to continually ask yourself the question, “Where is Jesus in what I am doing?” As parents and children live your family lives together, what room have you made in your daily lives for Jesus? As priests and religious seek to be the Good Shepherds that tonight’s gospel speaks about, is Jesus really the treasure for which you are ready to give up everything else? As Parish Councils meet to plan the year ahead is Jesus really at the centre of all your planning? As Catholic schools and Colleges, universities and seminaries, move more fully into the academic year let yourselves be motivated by these words: The greatest challenge facing my school or college, university or seminary, the greatest challenge facing me in my classroom or lecture hall, is to return this place to Christ and return Christ to his rightful place. As diocesan agencies review your programmes and evaluate your outreach ask if, in meeting you, the people with whom and for whom you work are really meeting Christ. For once again, as Saint Paul reminds us, “We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.”
Since my appointment as the Archbishop of Perth was announced many people have asked me what my priorities are. I have given a variety of answers but in the end I would want to say this: I hope and pray that, through my ministry of service and leadership in the Archdiocese, all of us, the people who together are the community of the disciples of Christ, might become more and more, as the first Letter of Saint Peter puts it, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, so that we might proclaim the mighty deeds of him who has called us out of darkness into his own marvellous light”. That light is Jesus Christ. It is to him that we commit all that we have and all that we are. It is to him that we entrust the journey into the future which tonight we set out on together.
Christ be our Light. Shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness. Christ be our light, shine in your Church gathered today".
