John O'Reily

John O'Reily (born John O'Reilly, 19 November 1846 – 6 July 1915) was an Australian Roman Catholic clergyman, the first Bishop of Port Augusta, and the second Archbishop of Adelaide. Born in Kilkenny, Ireland, O'Reily studied for the priesthood in Dublin. Upon his ordination in 1869, he migrated to Western Australia, serving as a parish priest in Fremantle, and founding a Catholic newspaper there. When the Diocese of Port Augusta was established in 1887, Pope Leo XIII named O'Reily as its first bishop. Concerned about the financial position of the diocese (which had inherited significant debt from the Diocese of Adelaide), he accepted the posting reluctantly. As bishop, he greatly improved the financial position of the new diocese, reducing its debt by half and earning a reputation as a competent administrator.

In 1894, O'Reily was appointed to replace the deceased Christopher Reynolds as Archbishop of Adelaide. The archdiocese he inherited was burdened with substantial debt, again left over from the old Diocese of Adelaide. Through the sale of church assets and a fundraising campaign, O'Reily was able to eliminate most of the Archdiocese's liabilities while still investing in church infrastructure. He also actively participated in public discussions relating to education policy at a time when the role of the state in supporting religious education was topical. O'Reily publicly advocated government assistance for religious schools, stating that it was unfair Catholics paid taxes to support state schools, but received no funding for their own. In the later years of his life, poor health forced him to spend less time attending to his episcopal duties, and from 1905, he largely retreated from public life. At his request, Robert Spence was appointed as his coadjutor and successor in 1914, and on 6 July 1915, he died at his house in Adelaide. O'Reily was highly regarded by many in South Australian society, with Adelaide's daily newspapers praising his character, administrative ability and positive relations with non-Catholics.

Early life

O'Reily was born John O'Reilly on 19 November 1846, in Kilkenny, Ireland, the son of Michael, a military officer, and Anne, née Gallagher. Upon his appointment, O'Reilly travelled to Adelaide, where he met with the Archbishop of Adelaide Christopher Reynolds and the Cardinal of Sydney Patrick Moran to discuss the formation of the new diocese. The poor financial state of the Archdiocese made the discussions contentious, with O'Reilly concerned about the amount of debt Port Augusta would inherit from Adelaide. To ensure a sufficiently large population for the new diocese, Moran suggested that its boundaries be altered from those drawn up by the Pope, but Reynolds opposed this plan. Dissatisfied with the outcome of the discussions, O'Reilly decided to travel to Sydney to deliberate further with the Cardinal, prompting Reynolds to write to Moran:

Education policy

As Archbishop, O'Reily continued his participation in public discussions regarding education. In 1896, a colony-wide referendum sought to gauge public opinion on state education, scripture reading in state schools, and the provision of capitation grants (fixed grants per student) to non-state schools. O'Reily weighed into the debate in The Register, giving conditional support to scriptural instruction in state schools, so long as the teachers themselves were religious and Catholic students received instruction from Catholic teachers. On the subject of a capitation grant, O'Reily was strongly supportive, arguing that moral impediments prevented Catholics from using secular education, and that, since religious schools provided elements of secular education as well as religious instruction, they should receive government assistance. At the referendum, South Australians affirmed the system of free secular education, but rejected scriptural readings in schools and the capitation grant. In 1899, in the lead-up to that year's general election, O'Reily gave a speech criticising the Labor Party, accusing some Labor leaders of having "an evident disposition to crush [Catholic labourers] with successive burdens." O'Reily died on 6 July 1915 at his house in Glen Osmond, and was buried under a large Celtic cross at the West Terrace Cemetery. In an editorial in 1913, The Advertiser praised O'Reily, lauding his administrative abilities and crediting the good relations between Protestants and Catholics in South Australia to his "broadness of mind and to his quiet determination to avoid all unnecessary controversy." Upon his death, The Register gave a glowing editorial, describing him as "loveable and highly estimable", a "hard hitter" and asserting that, had he not been a religious leader, he could have been "a leading financier, Imperial legislator or even an eminent military commander."