When Dr Mary Healy steps to the lectern at Rosehill Gardens at the third Tim Fischer Oration on Ethics in Public and Political Life on the evening of 17 June, she will carry with her a biography that few Catholic scholars can match: professor of sacred scripture, best-selling author, international speaker, and one of the first three women ever appointed by Pope Francis to the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
Around 2,000 guests are expected to hear her deliver the third an address whose very title, ‘Citizens of the Kingdom in a Secular Age’, signals something of the evening’s ambition.
That ambition is inseparable from the man the Oration honours.
Tim Fischer was not a man who kept his faith separate his politics.
A Vietnam veteran turned farmer, he served as Australia’s tenth Deputy Prime Minister under John Howard from 1996 to 1999. His Catholic faith was not a platform. It was a foundation.
He held to traditional moral values and regarded the family as the basis of a flourishing society. Colleagues and journalists who covered him spoke of a quality rare in politics: a gentle strength.
When he announced his resignation as Deputy Prime Minister in 1999, the standing ovation in the House lasted more than a minute, even the press gallery rose.
He died in 2019. For Bishop Tony Percy, the driving force behind the Oration, the loss was personal.
“Tim Fischer was a good friend of mine,” Bishop Percy recalls.
“He called me two days before he died. After that we started the Oration. Tim was Ambassador to the Holy See. the very first one. A man of deep Catholic faith and very, very deep civic and public instincts to do the right thing for people. A very significant figure.”
Fischer’s political career was marked by a particular quality that Bishop Tony believes set him apart from many of his contemporaries.
“It was Winston Churchill who said the difference between management and leadership was communication,” Bishop Tony says. “And Tim was a great communicator.
“He was also a man who had a lot of courage. His courage really came from his Catholic faith and his own personality, as well. And that’s why we named the Oration after him.”
“I’m honoured beyond words to be invited to give the Tim Fisher Oration. A Catholic who took his faith seriously, lived his faith in the public square, unabashed,” said Dr Healy.
“He is a model for being courageously, boldly forthright about the treasure we have. We cannot live as if it were unimportant or just a private part of our life.
“To be a Christian is to stand up and be counted, and that’s what I try to do.”
Citizens of the Kingdom: What the Evening Will Explore
It is a conviction that will sit at the heart of her address titled: ‘Citizens of the Kingdom in a Secular Age.’ It points directly to questions that preoccupy Dr Healy as both scholar and believer.
“I think that’s something we don’t often think about as Catholics,” she said.
“What is this kingdom, and what does it mean that we belong to this kingdom that is not of this world, and yet we are in this world, and we live and interact with all kinds of people who are not citizens of the kingdom, although they are potential citizens of the kingdom?”
Her answer will be grounded in encounters Jesus had with the powerful figures of his own day.
The parallels with contemporary public life, she suggests, are far from accidental.
“Today we’re in a post-Christian era, and we have the light of Christ,” she said. “What does it mean for us in terms of living and acting in this world, especially in the public sphere? That’s what I’m going to talk about.”
It is a question Tim Fischer lived rather than merely pondered. For Bishop Tony, the convergence between the honouree and the speaker is precisely the point.
“She’ll come to the Oration with that wonderful biblical world view: how did Jesus publicly debate world figures? How did he approach public life?” he says.
The answer, implied in both Fischer’s biography and Healy’s scholarship, is with courage, with conviction, and without apology.
Dr Healy comes to Sydney with a sense that something particular is already under way in the Archdiocese of Sydney.
“The Holy Spirit is already doing something amazing in the Archdiocese of Sydney,” she says.
“I think this particular time period — this month and next month — are like a kairos, a moment of opportunity where the Holy Spirit is particularly present. I’m really excited about just plugging in to what the Lord is already doing there.”
For Bishop Tony, that sense of divine timing is exactly what makes this third Oration feel different.
Fischer understood that faith was never meant to be left at the door of public life. Healy has spent her career showing why that still matters. Together, they make a compelling case.
EVENT DETAILS
Tim Fischer Oration on Ethics and Political Life
Speaker: Dr Mary Healy
Date / Time: Tuesday, 17 June 2025 / 6pm – 8pm
Venue: Rosehill Gardens, Sydney
For more information or to purchase tickets go to: https://www.tfo.org.au/
There’s far more to the conversation with Dr Mary Healy than we could fit on the page. Hear Dr Mary Healy in full on Grace Abounds, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just click on the link here.
