Bishop Anthony Randazzo and the clergy and people of the Diocese of Broken Bay join in extending heartfelt congratulations to Most Rev Bishop Bernard O’Grady OP, Bishop Emeritus of Gizo, Solomon Islands on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Episcopacy.
Bishop O’Grady entered the Dominican Order in 1950 and studied in Melbourne and Wahroonga, Sydney before being ordained in Adelaide on 1 December 1956. In 1958, he was appointed to the newly opened Dominican Mission in the then Western Solomons. He worked in various parishes and was also Catholic Education Director for the Gizo Diocese which had been formally established in 1964. During this time, many new schools were opened, and Bishop Bernard was awarded an MBE for educational service, as well as development work within the Western Solomons. In 1981 he was elected Prior (Superior) of the Dominican Novitiate and Retreat House at Blackfriars in Canberra, where he spent six years engaged in giving Retreats and Spiritual Direction, before being appointed to the Dominican College, part of the Holy Spirit National Seminary in Bomana Papua New Guinea in 1989. After working for a short period in 1994 in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia at the Cross-Cultural Retreat Centre at Mirilinki (Turkey Creek), he was ordained in May 1995 as Bishop of Gizo where he spent the next 12 years. Upon his retirement, Bishop O’Grady came to the Diocese of Broken Bay on the invitation of Bishop Walker. He has served the Parish of Pittwater with his priestly ministry since that time.
In his congratulatory letter to Bishop Bernard, Bishop Anthony recalls Pope Francis’ injunction for us “to live in a spirit of both memory and gratuity.” Bishop Anthony goes on to share that “the Pope adds to the importance of remembrance the deepening recognition that all we have has been received from the utter graciousness of God.”
Bishop Anthony and the Diocese of Broken Bay raise their prayer in gratitude for all that God has given Bishop Bernard O’Grady especially over these 25 years of Episcopacy. They pray that the blessing of the Lord be upon him on this wonderful occasion and upon the years ahead.