William Joseph Brennan (1904–1975) was a

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priest in Australia. He was the Bishop of Toowoomba.

Early life

Brennan was born on 4 November 1904 at

Dulwich Hill Dulwich Hill is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 7.5 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Inner West Council. Dulwich Hill str ...

near

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Sydney 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 Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. He was educated by the

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at Dulwich Hill and the Christian Brothers at Lewisham.

Religious life

In 1921, Brennan commenced training for the priesthood at St Columba’s Seminary at Springwood (now St Columba's High School) in 1921 and continued through St Patrick’s Seminary, Manly, and finally

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, obtaining a Doctorate in Theology. He was ordained on 17 December 1927, after which he served in a number of parishes in New South Wales. In 1952 he was appointed

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's ...

of the

Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes 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 associat ...

. On 24 August 1953, it was announced that Brennan would be the next Bishop of Toowoomba, following the retirement of Bishop Roper in late 1952. On 21 October 1954, he was consecrated at the Holy Family Church at

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, New South Wales, in a ceremony led by Cardinal Gilroy. The consecration was attended by a number of his family, including his sister, the Reverend Mother Joan Brennan of the Wilcannia-Forbes

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, who was so seriously ill that she was brought into the church in a wheelchair and was the first to receive her brother's blessing after his consecration. On 8 November 1953, he was enthroned at St Patrick's Cathedral in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

Archbishop of Brisbane 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 archdioc ...

James Duhig Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest-ser ...

. As Bishop, he established 6 more parishes and established 19 more churches in the diocese.

Later life

Brennan died in office, following a long illness on 11 September 1975 at St Vincent's Hospital at Toowoomba aged 70. A crowd of 3,000 people including 25 bishops attended his funeral. He was buried on 15 September 1975 at the

Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery at the corner of South Street and Anzac Avenue, Harristown, Queensland, Australia. It was surveyed in May 1850, and is one of the earliest surviving cemeteries in Queensland. The cem ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, William Joseph Roman Catholic bishops of Toowoomba 1904 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia