Patrick Lyons (6 January 1903 – 13 August 1967) was an Australian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

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. He was the third Bishop of

Christchurch, New Zealand Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

(1944–1950), Auxiliary Bishop of

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

(1950–1957) and fourth Bishop of Sale, Victoria, Australia (1957–1967).

Early life

Patrick Francis Lyons was born in

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

, as the second child of Patrick Joseph Lyons and his

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-born wife Catherine Cecilia McMahon. He studied at

St Mary's Primary School, West Melbourne St Mary's Primary School began life as a Roman Catholic co-educational primary day school with single-sex classes located in West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school was part of the parish of St Mary Star of the Sea, West Melbourne. As ...

and later at St. Joseph's CBC North Melbourne, run by the Christian Brothers, where he attained his Leaving Certificate. After

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

from St Kevin's College, Melbourne he became a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

in the

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in 1918. He resigned four years later to pursue an ecclesiastical career. He attended St. Columba's College, St. Patrick's College, Melbourne and then entered the

Pontifical Urbaniana University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian,; it, Pontificia Università Urbaniana. is a pontifical university under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People ...

in 1923.Bishop Francis Patrick Lyons, Catholic Diocese of Sale History
Retrieved 11 September 2011

Priesthood

Lyons was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood in Rome by Willem Cardinal van Rossum, CSSR, on his twenty-fourth birthday, 6 January 1927. After obtaining his

doctorate in divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

in June of that same year, Lyons returned to Australia and then did pastoral work in Collingwood, Geelong, and Brunswick before joining the staff of St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1935. In 1938, he became administrator of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

, archdiocesan chancellor, and

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in ...

to Archbishop Mannix. Lyons was named

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1939. During that same year, he established St. Patrick's Boys'

Choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

and choir school, incorporating members of the

Vienna Boys' Choir The Vienna Boys' Choir (german: Wiener Sängerknaben) is a choir of boy sopranos and altos based in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the best known boys' choirs in the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other count ...

displaced following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1940, he was appointed '' cavaliere della Corona d'Italia'' in recognition of his services to the

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community in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Bishop of Christchurch

On 16 March 1944, Lyons was appointed the third Bishop of Christchurch,

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, by Pope Pius XII. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on the following 2 July from Archbishop Mannix, with Bishop Hugh O'Neill ( Coadjutor Bishop of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

) and Archbishop

Matthew Beovich Matthew Beovich (1 April 1896 - 24 October 1981) was an Australian Roman Catholic clergyman, and the fifth Archbishop of Adelaide. Early life Matthew Beovich was born on 1 April 1896 in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. Matthew was t ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

serving as co-consecrators, in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne. Lyons was Bishop of Christchurch for six years. One notable achievement during that time was the founding of

Holy Name Seminary Holy Name Seminary was a Roman Catholic seminary staffed by the Society of Jesus established in New Zealand for the training of priests. It was first opened in 1947 in Christchurch and closed at the end of 1978. Establishment With Holy Cross Co ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. The establishment of this seminary, and the invitation to the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

to staff it, was largely on the initiative of Lyons (with the important support of Bishop Liston of Auckland). Lyons also purchased the land in West Christchurch for St Thomas of Canterbury College (which was built some years later) and invited the Christian Brothers to staff it.Michael King, ''God's Farthest Outpost: A History of Catholics in New Zealand'', Penguin Books, Auckland, 1997, p. 169

Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney

Lyons returned to Australia upon being named Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of ''Cabasa'' on 5 April 1950. He served as the episcopal leader of the

Catholic Social Studies Movement The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Sydney until 1954, during which time he incurred heavy resentment for dismissing Fr. Patrick Ryan, CSSM, as chaplain.

Bishop of Sale

Lyons was made Coadjutor Bishop of Sale on 11 October 1956, and in 1957 succeeded Richard Ryan, CM, as the fourth Bishop of Sale on 16 June 1957. During his tenure, Lyons oversaw the expansion of his

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

, adding several new parishes. Considered

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, authoritarian and aloof, he attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

from 1962 to 1965 and remained cautious towards the implementation of the council's

reforms Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

Death

The Bishop died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of ...

, aged 64, and was interred in St. Mary's Cathedral in Sale.

References

External links

Catholic-HierarchyAustralian Dictionary of Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Patrick 1903 births 1967 deaths Pontifical Urban University alumni Australian people of Irish descent Roman Catholic bishops of Christchurch Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) Participants in the Second Vatican Council Religious leaders from Melbourne Roman Catholic bishops of Sale Burials in Victoria (state) 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in New Zealand Roman Catholic bishops of Sydney People from North Melbourne People educated at St Kevin's College, Melbourne People educated at St Joseph's College, Melbourne