Australian bishop, former WWII and Vietnam chaplain, dies at 98

Published: 2008-05-23

PERTH, Australia (CNS) -- Bishop John Aloysius Morgan, perhaps Australia's last living World War II chaplain, died May 21 at the age of 98. He died at his home in Canberra hours after asking to return there from Calvary Hospital, where he had been for several weeks after being injured seriously in a fall. "I just want to go home to prepare to die," he reportedly told the hospital staff. Bishop Morgan, who retired in 1985, became a chaplain of the Australian army June 12, 1941, serving in Papua New Guinea. He was present at the formal surrender of Japanese forces at Wewak, Papua New Guinea, in September 1945. He also served during the Vietnam War. Bishop Max Davis of the Military Ordinariate of Australia said Bishop Morgan significantly raised the profile of chaplaincy in the Australian military and promoted solidarity and coordination among chaplains serving in the world's armed forces. Bishop Morgan was legendary in the Catholic Church and the Australian army, with a very personal approach to soldiers, said Bishop Davis and Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Canberra and Goulburn.

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