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The Church in Australia is mourning the death of one of its most eloquent defenders of Tradition.
Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Peter John Elliott, a towering figure in Catholic liturgy and pastoral life, died peacefully on 6 August 2025 at the age of 81. Born in Melbourne in 1943, the son of an Anglican vicar, he converted to Catholicism while studying theology at Oxford University, influenced decisively by St John Henry Newman’s Development of Christian Doctrine. “The last book I read before I became a Catholic was Newman’s Development of Christian Doctrine,” he told The Catholic Weekly days before his death.
Ordained in 1973 during the 40th International Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne, Bishop Elliott went on to serve the Holy See in Rome for a decade as an official of the Pontifical Council for the Family. He represented the Vatican at the UN Population Conference in Cairo (1994) and the Beijing Conference on Women (1995).
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne. A close collaborator with the Dicastery for Divine Worship, he played a key role in preparing the liturgy for the Personal Ordinariates established for Anglican converts, remarking with characteristic wit that “Anglicans no longer need to swim the Tiber, as the Holy See has built them a noble bridge.”
Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli of Melbourne paid tribute in a statement, calling him “a pastor, teacher, and friend whose love for Christ and His Church shaped every aspect of his ministry,” and praising his “rare combination of intellectual depth, liturgical beauty, and pastoral warmth.”
Bishop Elliott’s writings — including Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite and Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year — became standard references for priests and servers worldwide. In 2021, reflecting on the letters he had received protesting Traditionis Custodes, he wrote in The Australian: “I hear not only their pain, but moving arguments explaining their love for the stately old rite, its attractive silence, and engaging spirituality… What has surprised my Vatican II generation is how young people are gravitating to the Old Rite.”
