Church Leaders Mourn Death of Pioneer Catholic Woman Rosemary Goldie

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
1 Mar 2010

Rosemary Goldie with Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Cassidy

The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell will preside at the Requiem Mass on Friday, 5 March for Rosemary Goldie who died at the weekend aged 94.

One of the leading lay figures oF the Rome bureaucracy, Rosemary  was the first woman ever to hold a post in the Roman Curia when she was appointed Under Secretary of the Pontifical Council of the Laity by Pope Paul VI in 1967, a position she held until 1976.

Serving as a Rome-based Church bureaucrat for more than 50 years, Rosemary Goldie was admired and beloved by all who knew her.

Archbishop Cardinal Pell said Rosemary Goldie was not only a true pioneer of the Australian Catholic Church but was loved and admired for her talents in Rome.

Cardinal Pell said;"She made a huge contribution to the Church and was a great champion of the Catholic laity.

"She had enormous drive and commitment and worked tirelessly for the laity and the role of women in the Church."

Such was the esteem in which she was held by the Church in Rome that when Pope Benedict XVI visited Sydney for World Youth Day in July 2008, he made a special trip to the home of the Little Sisters of the Poor at  Randwick where Rosemary was then living. The Holy Father spent more than 30 minutes visiting first with (the then) 84-year-old Cardinal Edward Clancy, the seventh Archbishop of Sydney, who was living in retirement with the Sisters, before calling on (the then) 92-year-old Rosemary.

Since her death on Saturday evening, tributes for this extraordinary woman have poured in from across the globe and her funeral on Friday, which will be held at 10.30 am at the Chapel at Mount St Joseph's Home in Randwick and is expected to be attended by Cardinal Edward Cassidy, who worked alongside her during his years at the Vatican, and if his health permits, Cardinal Edward Clancy will also be there.

Monsignor William Mullins, Process Instructor of the Archdiocese of Sydney, former official of the Congregation for Catholic Education, Rome and Prelate of Honour to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, will be chief celebrant at the Requiem Mass. He was a friend for many years and remembers her with great affection.

"Although small in stature, Rosemary was a giant in the service of her Church and in her advocacy on behalf of the laity," says long time friend, Dr Michael Costigan.

The former priest, journalist, scholar, one-time Church bureaucrat who knew Rosemary for almost 60 years, says Rosemary Goldie "occupies a place in our nation's Catholic story alongside the likes of Caroline Chisholm and the soon-to-be-canonised Mary MacKillop."

Dr Costigan, who is an adjunct professor at the Australian Catholic University, arrived in Rome in 1952 at the same time as Rosemary. "She was always very knowledgeable and no matter how busy she was with her work at the Curia always had time to talk to seminarians and others in the Church."

The organiser of three World Lay Apostolic Congresses, Rosemary Goldie never lost her down-to-earth Australian humour.

"I remember one instance where a friend from Australia was in Rome and after sitting through a particularly obscure address by an Italian Monsignor, he remarked to Rosemary that he had found it very difficult to follow," Dr Costigan recalls, and laughing remembers her response. "She told my friend the Monsignor giving the address was seldom understood because he had a mind like spaghetti!"

For Dr Costigan's tribute and detailed life story of this outstanding Australian, click here