Justin Simonds

Justin Daniel Simonds (May 22, 1890—November 3, 1967) was an Australian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as the 4th Archbishop of Melbourne from 1963 to 1967.

Biography

Born in Glen Innes, New South Wales, Simonds was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Michael Kelly on November 30, 1912.

After ordination, Simmonds was posted to Bega in Southern NSW as curate. After 12 months at Bega Simmonds was sent to the Seminary at Manly as Professsor of Sacred Scripture and Greek. In 1916 he was appointed to the junior seminary at Springwood in NSW as Professor of Hermeneutics (the interpretation of the Bible). In 1921 he returned to Manly as Professor of Sacred Scripture and Dean.

From 1928 to 1930 Simmonds studied at the University of Louvain in Belgium. In 1930 he graduated with a PHD.

From 1931 to 1937 he served as Vice Rector and then Rector of the Seminary at Springwood.

On February 18, 1937, Simonds was appointed Archbishop of Hobart by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 6 from Giovanni Cardinal Panico, with Bishops Norman Gilroy and Patrick Farrelly serving as co-consecrators. Simmonds was the first native born Australian Archbishop.

In 1942, Simonds was named Coadjutor Archbishop of Melbourne and Titular Archbishop of Antinoë. Archbisop Mannix appointed him as the parish priest of St. Mary's Star of the Sea, West Melbourne. He was to remain Coadjutor Archbishop of Melbourne for the next 22 years, when he succeeded Archbishop Mannix.

Attending the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, he succeeded the late Daniel Mannix as Archbishop of Melbourne on November 6, 1963. Simonds was the first native Australian to hold that office.

He returned to Melbourne where he celebrated Mannix's funeral Mass and preached the panegyric: "We are mourning one of the world's leaders of our time. A cedar of Lebanon has fallen," said Simonds.

On 19 July 1964, he dedicated the new pipe organ in St Patrick's Cathedral to the memory of his predecessor. This instrument, one of the largest in Australia, has 4,762 pipes and a set of Spanish trumpets. It is still in use today and is a most spectactular instrument to listen to.

Ill-health and age reduced Simonds' own period as Melbourne's archbishop (while he was in office, he suffered several strokes and his vision greatly deteriorated). He eventually resigned on May 13, 1967, after only three years of service. Upon his retirement, he was made Titular Archbishop of Libertina.

On 3 November 1967, Simonds died from a stroke at the Mercy Hospital in Melbourne, at age 77. He was buried in the crypt of St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne along side his predecessor.

Justin Villa the home in Melbourne for retired Priests and Simonds Catholic College in West Melbourne are named after him in recognition of his work.

External links

• St Patrick’s Cathedral The Archbishops of Melbourne by Dean W.J. McCarthy
• Michael Costigan, 'Simonds, Justin Daniel (1890 - 1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, Melbourne University Press, 2002, pp 243-244.

Reference

M. Vodola, Simonds: A Rewarding Life. Melbourne, 1997.