Jesuit Bishop, Greg O’Kelly has farewelled his diocesan “family” after 11 years as Bishop of Port Pirie, saying that as he reflects back on his time in the huge regional, rural and outback diocese, it’s the quality of the relationships that stands out the most.

Bishop O’Kelly told Jesuit Communications that while it was hard to say good-bye to the people, the time was right.

*Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ. PHOTO: The Southern Cross.*

“I think it’s very hard to be in a country diocese and not fall in love with the people in the communities,” he said.

“So there’s a real element of sadness. It’s the right and proper thing – given age and energy levels. It’s time to hand over to someone younger and with a good perspective.”

Bishop O’Kelly, who also spent two years as Apostolic Administrator of the Adelaide Archdiocese during his tenure in Port Pirie, said the job of Bishop is always a learning curve.

“The first thing I had to do was to get to know and appreciate country parishes. I had the advantage that my family comes from the mid-north (of South Australia). So I was accepted, so to speak, as one of their own,” he said.

“I had to understand how an isolated small parish operates, and the relationship between the priests and the people, and the local initiatives that have to be taken, and how to support the priests. That was a challenging thing.

“I also had to work out how to get around. Bear in mind, this diocese is the same size as France and Germany put together. Our western-most parish is over in Ceduna, and we go up to Uluru, and we go down to Port Lincoln. So you’ve got to travel a day or two each side of some of those places.”

Bishop O’Kelly said that among the things he appreciated in his time in Port Pirie Diocese were the opportunities to strengthen the work of the diocese, in terms of prison ministry and working with Aboriginal people.

“We have three prisons in the diocese, and several hundred inmates. There’s a team now, led by a priest, who are active in terms of letter writing and visitation and supplying things for prisoners, and who also support post release. It’s small, but it’s active,” he said.

“The other thing was we were able to introduce an Indian congregation of sisters. There are two communities of them, at Port Augusta and Ceduna. They’re working with Aboriginal people, and they’re working with female prisoners.

“We also just announced the founding of a new secondary school, over in Renmark, named after Saint Francis of Assisi, trying to pick up themes and outlooks from Laudato Si’. Because it’s right in the heart of an ecological environment there on the River Murray, in the Murray Darling Basin.

“I think the sense of community amongst school principals and staff has been a rewarding thing to be able to be involved in, and trying to set up regional pastoral councils, because we’re too large an area to have frequent meetings. So we now have four regions. No parish can stand alone, and no parish has all the resources that it needs, but together we can do something.

“I think quality of relationships is what we must always look for. A diocese is a family, and so you have to work at building relationships.

“I’m more conscious of my failures than I am of my accomplishments, but certainly there have been some blessings, I know.”

Bishop O’Kelly said his identity as a Jesuit was always a part of his life as Bishop.

“I can say this. I felt that when I was asked to be Bishop of Port Pirie, although it’s not a Jesuit work as such, I still felt very much that I was working as a Jesuit, taking up the work our forefathers commenced,” he said.

“They helped start off this diocese and here I was put in a privileged position of being able to try to continue some of the work that they had done, and to recall their presence with our people. So I thought it was being a rather Jesuit thing, to care for something we started ourselves.”

Salvatorian priest Karol Kulczycki was ordained a bishop in Poland on September 29 and installed as the new Bishop of Port Pirie on October 28.

This article is drawn from a Q and A interview with Bishop O’Kelly by Michael McVeigh from Jesuit Communications. See the full interview here.