Andrew Killian (26 October 1872 – 28 June 1939) was an Irish clergyman and the fourth

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Adelaide. Born and ordained in Ireland, Killian moved to Australia, where he became Bishop of

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

before succeeding Robert Spence as Archbishop of Adelaide.

Early life

Andrew Killian was born on 26 October 1872 in Edenderry,

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

, Ireland. Son of Nicholas Killian and his wife Eliza Josephine, née Ryan, Killian was educated at Mungret College, Limerick and St Patrick's College, Carlow. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Royal University of Ireland in 1894, and was ordained a Catholic priest on 4 June 1898. In late 1898, Killian came to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

where his first appointment was as an assistant priest in Bourke, New South Wales. In 1907, he was transferred to

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

where he demonstrated abilities as a parish administrator, clearing the debt of the parish, overseeing the construction of a school and eventually becoming Vicar General of the diocese. Killian was made a

domestic prelate Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

(monsignor) in 1919, and in 1924 was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

as bishop of

,The Diocese of Port Augusta became the Diocese of Port Pirie in 1951. a position he held until 1933. During his time as Bishop of Port Augusta, Killian would travel over large distances to visit the scattered parishes of the rural diocese.

Archbishop of Adelaide

In July 1933, Killian was appointed as coadjutor archbishop of Adelaide where he assisted the ailing Robert Spence, and after Spence died on 5 November 1934, Killian became Archbishop of Adelaide. Killian's tenure as archbishop saw Adelaide host the National Catholic Education Congress in 1936, in part as a contribution to the celebrations of the South Australian colony's centenary. While Bishop of Port Augusta, Killian had attended Catholic conferences in Chicago and Dublin, and endeavoured to use the Congress to project South Australian Catholic enthusiasm and make a case for increased public funding of Catholic education. The event took place over one week in November 1936 and hosted bishops and archbishops from Australia and New Zealand, as well as the apostolic delegate to Australia Giovanni Panico. Leading Catholic educators presented papers, and the Congress concluded with a procession of 100,000 people along King William Street. When reflecting on his time as archbishop, Killian listed the conference as one of his proudest achievements, along with the re-opening of Mary MacKillop's school and convent in Penola. In the last year of his life, Killian suffered from cancer, and on 28 June 1939 he died while undergoing surgery in

St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne (formerly known as St Vincent's & Mercy Private Hospital) is a private hospital group in Victoria of Australia that is located across four campuses in the Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy, East Melbourne , K ...

. He was succeeded by Matthew Beovich, who was consecrated as archbishop in early 1940.Laffin 2008, p 107.

Notes

References

External links

''Killian, Andrew''
at the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition. {{DEFAULTSORT:Killian, Andrew 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Australia Roman Catholic archbishops of Adelaide 1872 births 1939 deaths People from Edenderry, County Offaly Alumni of Carlow College Irish expatriate Roman Catholic archbishops Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Roman Catholic bishops of Port Augusta Christian clergy from County Offaly