In Memoriam, Cormac Nagle OFM.
Cormac Nagle, who died suddenly on May 4th, was a strong Franciscan presence in Australia, Lecturer, Provincial and in his ministry on the OFM General Council.
Many MSC of a certain vintage have memories of him, working with him on the Yarra Theological Union, and students of his Moral Theology courses at the YTU.
This morning, while making his breakfast, Cormac Nagle died. Cormac was among the last of that first generation of teachers who brought YTU into being. Having recently returned from Rome and experienced first hand the events of Vatican II, he was ever after touched by its spirit and saw the importance of creating a place such as YTU. He taught here for decades and his Bioethics course was a part of the life of most students who always knew it fondly as “Monday Night Sex with Cormac”. As Minister of the Australian Franciscan Province he provided the land and assistance that became Dorish Maru College and the OCD priory later the Heart of Life. With his own hands he installed YTU’s first phone system and, to the end, he was supervising research students, writing and contributing to Staff Seminars.
His canonical and moral studies gave him a firm and solid insight into how we ought to act, but he tempered that with a Franciscan compassion and sensitivity that always respected the situation of each individual. Like Francis, he believed he was ‘called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.’ May Cormac, so long part of our story, also now find healing, union and his way home to his loving God.
Cormac was born on 4 December 1932 in Brisbane and was baptised Malcom. He entered the novitiate of the friars on 17 February 1950, and on 22 February 1954 made his solemn profession as a friar, and was ordained a friar priest in Brisbane on 29 June 1957. After completing his doctorate in canon law in Rome, Cormac completed a post-doctoral fellowship in moral theology at the Catholic University of America, Washington, USA. On returning to Australia, Cormac lectured in canon law and moral theology, and was ministering as an ethicist in Catholic healthcare facilities, and advisor to several bishops and others, especially in the areas of canon law and ethics. He was a formator and was elected to the Provincial Council of the friars. Then, at the age of 44, he was elected Provincial Minister, and then elected to the General Council of the Order, being based in Rome.
In 2015, Cormac was awarded Catholic Heath Australia’s highest honour, the Maria Cunningham Lifetime Contribution Award 2015, at the annual Catholic Health Australia Awards held at Parliament House, Canberra. “A very humble, yet highly accomplished individual, Fr Cormac Nagle’s qualifications are not only impressive, but have seen him travel the globe, giving him a truly international perspective. Fr Cormac also holds a degree in Sabbatical Studies in Bioethics, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, USA” [Catholic Health Australia, Media Release, 2 September 2015].
