Still travelling the Road to Emmaus after 50 years of priesthood

By Catherine Sheehan

For Fr Peter Addicoat CP, who celebrated his Golden Jubilee of priesthood on 1 December, the story of the Road to Emmaus is the perfect image of the priesthood.

“The story of priesthood is the story of the resurrection, it’s the story of Emmaus,” Fr Peter said, reflecting on the past 50 years since his ordination to the priesthood.

“We are post-resurrection people and yet we look back and we wonder and we doubt about what we’ve experienced.

“The important part is, ‘Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he spoke to us?’ And then having spoken to us, then he broke the bread, and that’s when they recognised him.

“I’m finding over 50 years, it’s quite a good image to have because I can resonate with each of the parties in that story.”

This year also marks 25 years in total that Fr Peter has spent carrying out his priestly ministry at St Joseph’s Church in Hobart.

“Being here for 25 years is extraordinary,” he said.

“I love it here, I love St Joseph’s. I love the environment, living in a city church. It’s fantastic.”

Born in post-World War II Melbourne on 11 August 1949, Fr Peter grew up in the suburb of Moorabbin, the second of six children in his family.

Life was “very basic” and he recalls as a child catching the bus to attend Sunday Mass with his family at St Paul’s church in Bentley. His parents were devout Catholics who passed the faith on to their children.

He attended St Bede’s College in Mentone until 1964, by which time he had begun to discern a vocation to the priesthood.

“As a young fellow I was attracted to helping others, to responding to the needs of those around me. And just seeing the sisters, the brothers and the diocesan priests at work in my own formation, it just seemed to me that that was the natural flow [to pursue a religious vocation].”

He first encountered the Passionists when he was in Year 8 at school and attended a vocations camp.

“The chaplain was a Passionist and he spoke of religious life as being a call by God that anyone could receive.”

Despite the fact he struggled academically, particularly with Latin, the Passionist priest indicated that the order would assist him with his studies.

“That encouraged me, that impressed me,” Fr Peter said. “So I took it up.”

He joined the Passionists when he was only 15 and embraced their charism of proclaiming the crucified Christ as a sign of God’s love.

“It’s drawing people together from all walks of life and all situations to the sign of God’s love… our heart is the love of Christ and the symbols of the passion. The crucifix is very much part of our life.”

Ordained a priest on 1 December 1973 in Melbourne, Fr Peter describes the experience as both “joyful and sad” as it took place not long after his father had passed away.

His first placement was in Hobart where he was assigned to parish and hospital work.

“I can remember when I first came here it was intense… I’d never seen a dead person before or attended someone who had a cardiac arrest or someone in an accident. So there was a whole maturing that I received here in those four years.”

Fr Peter served as spiritual director to Passionist seminarians in Melbourne for four years and began leading spiritual retreats.

He spent a year in Rome receiving further formation in the spiritual life and studying at the Gregorian University.

From 1981 to 1994 he served as Novice Master to the Passionist community in Sydney. During that time he also served as a Provincial Consultor, Community Leader of the Provincial House, and an assistant priest at St Anthony in the Fields, Terrey Hills.

He was appointed to St Joseph’s in Hobart in January 1995 and continued his retreat ministry at the Emmaus Centre and at Maryknoll.

Fr Peter transferred to Melbourne in December 2004 to help care for his ailing mother who passed away in 2009.

In 2013 he returned to Hobart and was appointed community leader at St Joseph’s.

Fr Peter’s affection for the community at St Joseph’s has only grown with the passing years.

“This is where I first preached, this is where my first baptism was, this is where my first wedding was,” he said.

He emphasised that it was the people and the community at St Joseph’s that made it special.

“This church is a beautiful church, a wonderful church. But it only exists in so far as we put ourselves in the church and make it a community.”

After 50 years of priesthood, Fr Peter said he had come to view God as “the source of all happiness and delight” and the “source of all forgiveness and compassion”.

“God allows us to stumble and to fall and make our mistakes,” he said. “It’s almost like a parent watching a youngster start to walk, because they fall over, you don’t race over and help them. Let them work their way out.”

“I suppose the last 50 years have been a time of great happiness and joy. And it’s been a sense of bringing God’s presence into the lives of others, as they have with me.”