Justin Simonds

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Justin Daniel Simonds (May 22, 1890—November 3, 1967) was an Australian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as Archbishop of Melbourne from 1963 to 1967.

[edit] Biography

Born in Glen Innes, New South Wales, Simonds was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Michael Kelly on November 30, 1890.

On February 18, 1937, Simonds was appointed Archbishop of Hobart by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 6 from Giovanni Cardinal Panico, with Bishops Norman Gilroy and Patrick Farrelly serving as co-consecrators. Simonds was later named Coadjutor Archbishop of Melbourne and Titular Archbishop of Antinoë. Attending the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, he succeeded the late Daniel Mannix as Archbishop of Melbourne on November 6, 1963. Simonds was the first native Australian to hold that office.

He returned to Melbourne where he celebrated Mannix's funeral Mass and preached the panegyric: "We are mourning one of the world's leaders of our time. A cedar of Lebanon has fallen," said Simonds, who dedicated the new organ to the memory of his predecessor. This instrument, one of the largest in Australia, has 4,762 pipes and a set of Spanish trumpets.

Ill-health and age reduced Simonds' own period as Melbourne's archbishop (while he was in office, he suffered several strokes and his vision greatly deteriorated). He eventually resigned on May 13, 1967, after only three years of service. Upon his retirement, he was made Titular Archbishop of Libertina.

Simonds died from a stroke in Melbourne, at age 77.

Simonds Catholic College in West Melbourne is named in his recognition, as well as being the parish priest of St. Mary's Star of the Sea, a church adjacent to the college site.

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Preceded by
Daniel Mannix		 Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne
1963-1967		 Succeeded by
James Knox