Monsignor John Joseph Usher has been remembered as a prominent social services reformer and man of “deep faith and vision,” at his requiem Mass at St Patrick’s Church in Mortlake, where he was a beloved parish priest for more than three decades.
The former chancellor and vicar general of the Archdiocese of Sydney, and former director of Centrecare (now CatholicCare) died in the peace of Christ on 20 September.
“The mission to bring God’s love to the peripheries of the community, to the disadvantaged and vulnerable, the victims and survivors, ran like a watermark through the life and ministry of Monsignor John Usher,” said Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP in his homily at the Mass on 27 September.
“[His was] a richly lived life, of a man who was, first and foremost, a lover of God and his people, a priest filled with the compassion of Christ, a Christian who sought to live out the beatitudes as keys to a truly happy life.”
Nicknamed “Jack” and also dubbed “Happy” he was once described by a journalist as a “chain-smoking priest with a passion for social justice and the races.”
That image only “captures a part of the man” the archbishop said.
Former head of the NSW Department for Community Services Des Semple and Dr Megan Brock RSJ each delivered a eulogy, paying tribute to Usher’s passion for the importance of family and social justice, his compassion, humility, “whimsical sense of humour” and love of people from all walks of life.
“John’s social work degree combined with his priest’s training provided him with additional insights into the community’s capacity to offer supports to those who were not coping well with life,” Semple said.
“He understood the power and beauty of organisations to give, but he also understood their potential vulnerabilities. He was very wise in exercising the checks and balances in that environment.
“A deep thinker and very astute observer, he never used those abilities to promote himself but exercised these insights in helping others. He had an appetite for people, he loved them and they loved him.”
Msgr Usher was born in Sydney on 3 December 1940 to Cecil and Mary Usher and baptised at All Hallow’s Church in Five Dock. He attended Domremy College and St Patrick’s College, Strathfield, concluding his schooling as the Haberfield branch president of the Catholic Youth Organisation.
After studying commerce he worked at the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics (now the ABS), the Knights of the Southern Cross and the Paulian Association, according to a history of the Mortlake parish by Dr Damian Gleeson, which adds that a very young Msgr Usher also once turned down an offer to work for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
He entered the seminary aged 25 in 1967 and was ordained by Archbishop James Freeman in 1972.
Aware of poverty and inequality from an early age, Msgr Usher was an untiring advocate for the poor and marginalised, the unemployed and disposed.
As a young priest he was sent to gain a postgraduate social work degree at the University of Sydney. He was then appointed to lead the Blacktown office of “Westcare” and then in 1983, Centacare Sydney, which he went on to lead for more than 20 years.
Respected both within the church and across the political spectrum, the priest advised governments on issues around adoption, foster care and out-of-home care of children and young people, culminating in the 1992 Usher Report for the New South Wales Government.
In part it recommended a shift from policies of institutionalisation to family-based support for vulnerable children and young people needing care.
He also served on the Family Law Council of Australia, the Community Welfare Advisory Council, the NSW Child Protection Council, and the Social Security Advisory Council.
In 2004 Msgr Usher was awarded an Order of Australia for service to the community, “particularly children and young people, through the social welfare programs of the Catholic Church and organisations providing services for children and statutory authorities.”
Dr Gleeson recounts Usher’s “unrelenting passion to represent the disposed” during his Centacare tenure, including his advocacy for housing affordability in 1988, when he told media it was “practically impossible” for Australians in urban areas to find public housing or low-priced private housing.
“Clearly existing policies have been regressive and inequitable and it’s time high time for change,” Usher said at the time.
Three years later the priest convened a national day of action to shed light on the worsening effects of long-term unemployment as “neither major political party have proposed long-term solutions to help almost one million unemployed in Australia.”
He served as the Archdiocese of Sydney’s chancellor from 2004-2014, its vicar general from 2012-2014 and director of Centacare from 1983-2004.
Cardinal Pell appointed him to St Patrick’s Mortlake in 1986, and to the role of parish priest in 2003. He continued as parish priest until his retirement in 2019. He was appointed a monsignor in 2009.
Monsignor Usher served parishes Mt Prichard, Balgowlah, Golden Grove, Dundas Valley, Blacktown and Rozelle as well as Mortlake.