William Joseph Brennan (bishop)

William Joseph Brennan (1904–1975) was a Roman Catholic priest in Australia. He was the Bishop of Toowoomba.[1]

The Most Reverend

William Joseph Brennan
Bishop of Toowoomba
ProvinceBrisbane
DioceseRoman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba
Installed8 November 1953
Term ended11 September 1975
PredecessorJoseph Basil Roper
SuccessorEdward Francis Kelly
Orders
Ordination17 December 1927
Consecration21 October 1953
Personal details
Born(1904-11-04)4 November 1904
Dulwich Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Died11 September 1975(1975-09-11) (aged 70)
Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
BuriedDrayton and Toowoomba Cemetery
NationalityAustralian
DenominationRoman Catholic Church
ProfessionCleric

Early life

Brennan was born on 4 November 1904 at Dulwich Hill near Lewisham, Sydney, New South Wales.[2][3] He was educated by the Sisters of St Joseph at Dulwich Hill and the Christian Brothers at Lewisham.[3]

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 Propaganda College, Rome, obtaining a Doctorate in Theology.[3]

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 of the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes.[3]

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.[1] On 21 October 1954, he was consecrated at the Holy Family Church at Parkes, 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 Sisters of Mercy, 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.[4] On 8 November 1953, he was enthroned at St Patrick's Cathedral in Toowoomba by Archbishop of Brisbane, James Duhig.[5]

As Bishop, he established 6 more parishes and established 19 more churches in the diocese.[3]

Later life

Brennan died in office, following a long illness on 11 September 1975 at St Vincent's Hospital at Toowoomba aged 70.[2][3][6] A crowd of 3,000 people including 25 bishops attended his funeral.[7] He was buried on 15 September 1975 at the Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery.[8]

gollark: I suspect one of them just has a ton of links on it.
gollark: *Somehow* my web crawler found all this stuff from just looking at content on 25 domains.
gollark: I fear that you're introducing horrible accursed cryptography into a thing.
gollark: What *are* you actually doing, though?
gollark: <@617340663368777777> Less unseriously, this sounds like an X/Y problem, what is your actual goal here?

References
  1. "MONSIGNOR TRANSFERRED". Queensland Times (20, 790). Queensland, Australia. 25 August 1953. p. 3 (Daily). Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Bishop William Joseph Brennan". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  3. "Most Reverend William Brennan, DD". Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  4. "Hierarchy Greets Successor To See Of Toowoomba". Catholic Weekly. XII (607). New South Wales, Australia. 29 October 1953. p. 5. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "NEW BISHOP FOR TOOWOOMBA". Cairns Post (16, 120). Queensland, Australia. 9 November 1953. p. 1. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "IN BRIEF Call for four colleges". The Canberra Times. 50 (14, 169). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 12 September 1975. p. 3. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Bishop buried". The Canberra Times. 50 (14, 172). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 16 September 1975. p. 6. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Deceased search: William Brennan". Toowoomba Regional Council. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
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