Edmund Collins

Edmund John Patrick Collins, AM also known as Bishop Ted, was the Bishop of Darwin, Australia, from 1986 to 2007.[4]

For other people named Edmund Collins, see Edmund Collins (disambiguation).
Edmund John Patrick Collins
Bishop
ChurchRoman Catholic
DioceseDarwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Appointed3 July 1986[1]
Term ended3 July 2007[1]
PredecessorJohn Patrick O'Loughlin
SuccessorEugene Hurley
Personal details
Born(1931-03-22)22 March 1931[2]
Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia
Died8 August 2014(2014-08-08) (aged 83)[2]
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
MottoCor Unum (One heart)[2][3]

Early life

Collins was born in Braidwood, New South Wales in 1931, the youngest of five children in an Irish-Catholic family, and grew up in Bermagui. His mother died when he was five.[5]

At the age of 16, Collins moved to Sydney and joined the police service as a cadet,[6] before becoming a probationary constable at 19.[2]

Priesthood

In 1953, shortly before he turned 23, Collins attended a day of recollection at Kensington Monastery with a group of Catholic police; it was here that he first felt drawn to the priesthood. The following year, aged 24,[7] Collins resigned from the police force to join the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at Douglas Park. After two years of initial studies and preparation, in 1956 he took his first vows and moved to Croydon Monastery in Melbourne to study for the priesthood.[6][7] After completing his theological studies, he was ordained a priest in 1963, at age 32,[2] and appointed to the parish of Randwick (Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church[5]) in Sydney.

Collins remained at Randwick for four years, after which he was transferred to Hindmarsh parish in Adelaide, for three years, and then to Nightcliff parish in Darwin.[6] He returned to Randwick in 1978 and remained there as parish priest until 1985,[2][5] after which he went on a sabbatical.[2]

Other responsibilities

During the 1970s, Collins was Director of Catholic Missions for the Darwin Diocese, and Superior of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Northern Territory.[2][5]

Bishop of Darwin

On 3 July 1986 Collins was consecrated bishop of Darwin;[1] he adopted the motto Cor Unum ("one heart").[2][3]

In November 1986, Collins accompanied Pope John Paul II as he visited Darwin and Alice Springs[8][9] as part of the Australian papal tour. While in Alice Springs the Pope gave a speech to the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders,[10][11] which inspired Collins to encourage Indigenous Catholics to express their aboriginality within their Catholic faith, allowing the use of didgeridoos, clapsticks and smoking ceremonies as part of Mass.[7][12]

Collins was a public advocate for indigenous people who were taken from their families as children.[7][12]

When the Northern Territory legalised euthanasia in 1995, Collins campaigned publicly against the law, and "almost certainly contributed to" its overturning in 1997 by the Federal Government.[3][7][13]

In the 1999 Australia Day Honours Collins was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for "service to the community through the Catholic Church as Bishop of Darwin, and to the Aboriginal community".[14]

Collins retired in 2007.[1] He died on 8 August 2014 at the St Joseph's Aged Care Home in Kensington,[4] and was interred in a crypt at Saint Mary's Cathedral, Darwin.[3][13]

Ted Collins Village, a housing complex opened in 2011 and run by the St Vincent de Paul Society in Darwin, is named after him.[15]

Cyclone Tracy recording

Collins was in Darwin when it was struck by Cyclone Tracy in 1974. When the cyclone hit, he switched on a tape recorder, and recorded the sounds of the storm.[16] The recording is now in the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, as part of the Cyclone Tracy exhibit.[2][7][17]

References
  1. "Bishop Edmund John Patrick Collins, M.S.C." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
  2. "Bishop EJP Collins - 1986-2007". Diocese of Darwin. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  3. Bishop Ted Collins MSC DD AM laid to rest, Catholic Diocese of Darwin, 2014-08-21, archived from the original on 2014-09-06, retrieved 2014-08-30
  4. Xavier La Canna (2014-08-09). "Darwin's Bishop Ted Collins dies aged 83". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  5. Damir Govorcin (2003-12-07). "Conversation: Ted Collins, Bishop of Darwin - Souls to be saved, not locked up". Archived from the original on 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  6. "What happened to... Bishop Edmund J P COLLINS MSC AM DD". Ex-Police Cadets Association of NSW, Inc. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  7. "Northern Territory Mourns Death of Darwin's Much-loved "Bishop Ted"". Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  8. "Our Story - History of NT Church". Diocese of Darwin. Archived from the original on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
  9. "Papal visit to the heart". The Catholic Leader. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane. 2006-10-08. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
  10. "Address of John Paul II to the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in Blatherskike Park". The Holy See. 1986-11-29. Archived from the original on 2014-02-15. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
  11. Frank Brennan (2011-11-28). "The Pope in Alice: 25 years on". Eureka Street. Jesuit Communications Australia. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
  12. Margie Smithurst (2007-08-31). "Fond Farewell". Stateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  13. Xavier La Canna (2014-08-19). "Bishop Ted Collins funeral held in Darwin". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  14. "The Most Reverend Edmund John Patrick Collins". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  15. "Ted Collins Village in Darwin". St Vincent de Paul Society. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  16. Sophie Cunningham (2014-07-19). "Blown away by the impact of Cyclone Tracy on Darwin". The Australian. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  17. Bill Bryson. Down Under. Random House. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
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