Sydney Bishop-Elect Tony Percy hopes his ordination to the episcopate will be a special occasion for the church and confirmation for all present of the nearness of God to his people.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP will be the principal celebrant at the ordination Mass for Bishop-Elect Percy at St Mary’s Cathedral on 2 May from 7pm, and all are welcome to attend.
Bishop-Elect Percy spoke to The Catholic Weekly in the weeks before his ordination, before entering a time of retreat to prepare for this next phase of his ministry. He said he had been reflecting on how lucky and blessed he has been in his life.
He said one of his biggest surprises upon becoming a priest was how generously he would be supported.
“I had no idea of the extent of the goodness of people,” he said.
“Most of the time as a priest I have met incredible people of faith, and that’s so edifying, so beautiful.
“I have just loved being a priest for the last 35 years. I had a great family behind me from the get-go and every step of the way I’ve had great people with me.”
Bishop-Elect Tony Percy, 62, was born in Sydney and served as the rector of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd from 2009-2014.
His most recent appointment was as parish priest of St Gregory’s, Queanbeyan, before that he was vicar general of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn from 2015-2023.
At one point, he might have embarked on a career in finance but says the best decision he ever made in life was to pray each day.
“I began it as a young man and that has been the key to all of this, to be with Christ, and then to be sent by him,” he said.
Bishop-Elect Percy has chosen “Hope in God” for his motto as bishop, a translation from French of the Percy family motto “Esperance en Dieu.”
“I thought it was fitting, this being the Jubilee Year of Hope,” he said.
“Also it’s very important in this era of self-help groups and wellbeing influencers when people think they can solve problems with their own strength, and in fact we can’t when it comes to many things.
“Hope is intimately related to faith, the classic definition is in Hebrews chapter 11 where it says ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen,’ and then lists a whole lot of people who had hope right through the Old Testament.
“I think that’s terribly important to remember today because there’s a lot of suffering in the world, but if you have hope you can get through it. We have come from God and we are going to God so that gives us tremendous purpose and direction.”
As a bishop for Sydney Bishop-Elect Percy has reflected on ways he will preach the Gospel, administer the sacraments and guide the faithful.
“I really like preaching and this modern age gives us incredible opportunities to do it different ways,” he said.
“These seven incredible sacraments given by Christ means that God wants to accompany us from birth to death all along the way. He really is here with us.
“And when it comes to issues of governance, they are not so much about administration but trying to work out who’s got what gifts that can be offered for the benefit of the Body of Christ and the wider society.
“Our society has tremendous challenges. This is a time of great change and a bishop should be able to speak clearly about matters that help people to understand the issues that are at stake.
“We want to make the point that what we’ve received over 4000 years from Abraham to Sarah and right through to now is of benefit not only to us, but to every other human being—particularly when it comes to fundamental human values.
“We should not get involved too much in the politics of things, though sometimes we might have to, but a bishop should just make people aware of why a particular value in a given situation is important.”
Bishop-Elect Percy will be responsible for the archdiocese’s western region and his first Mass as a bishop will be at the cathedral on 3 May at 12 noon.
He said being ordained on the feast of St Athanasius gives him “great courage.”
“He was a bishop at the age of 31, exiled for around 18-20 years, a great theologian and public figure,” he said.
The episcopal ordination will be livestreamed which you can watch here.