Father Gerard Dowling is an Australian Catholic priest and radio personality.

He and his twin sister Mary Simpson were born in Essendon in 1932. He has served in several parishes in Melbourne, Australia. Dowling is a well-known priest who trained in social work and began hosting a weekly radio counseling program on Sport 927 in 1973.[1][2] Dowling's latenight program is called, The Family Counsellor.[3]

Dowling is an avid supporter of the North Melbourne Football Club.[4] He is the author of The North Story, a detailed history of the Club, published in 1997.[5]

He began writing for The Advocate in 1976 and later Kairos in 2000, both Catholic news journals based in Melbourne. Since 1963 he has worked as a counselor with CatholicCare (formerly Centacare). In 1985, Father Dowling received a Medal of the Order of Australia.

Father Dowling was the Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne until 2003 and is known by many for his pastoral outreach.[6] He celebrated his 50th Golden Jubilee in July 2008. Until 23 October 2016 he was the priest-in-residence at St Cecilia's in Glen Iris.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ "Talkback priest falls ill". Sunday Herald-Sun. 3 September 2006. ProQuest 360719724. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Talkback radio program turns 30". The Age. 7 September 2003.
  3. ^ "For almost four decades, he has been late-night". The Courier (Ballarat). 4 February 2012. ProQuest 919697438. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  4. ^ Maskell, Vin (3 July 2004). "Why 1975 was holy providence, 1996 even better for North; KICK-TO-KICK (interview)". The Age. ProQuest 363653792. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  5. ^ Dowling, Gerard (1997), The North Story: The History of the North Melbourne Football Club, 2nd Ed., Playright Publishing, Sydney. ISBN 0-949853-56-9 National Library of Australia index page
  6. ^ "We have come a long way". Make-A-Wish. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  7. ^ "Face to Face with Fr Gerard Dowling OAM". Kairos Catholic Journal. Melbourne Archdiocese. 30 August 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

Further reading edit

  • Baker, Sarah (Spring 2009). "Lending an ear". Australian Catholics. 17 (4): 8–9. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)


Category:Radio personalities from Melbourne Category:Australian Roman Catholic priests Category:Living people Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia