One of Australia's pioneering bishops is discovered buried in France - The amazing story of Bishop John Brady, first Bishop of Perth

A group of archaeologists and priests from the Archdiocese of Perth, Western Australia, have discovered the remains of their founding bishop, and are now preparing to take him back home. The bones of John Brady, first Bishop of Perth, were unearthed last week, after researchers managed to locate his grave in France. Members of the Australian Archdiocese now plan to translate his body to St Mary's Cathedral in Perth, where he will join his deceased successors who are buried in the crypt .

John Brady was appointed the first Bishop of Perth in 1845 and was responsible for building St John's Pro-Cathedral. In 1852, though, the Vatican was forced to remove Bishop Brady from his diocese, after his financial irregularities had practically bankrupted the Church in Perth. Some reports suggest that the Bishop was also excommunicated at this time, whilst others suggest that he was removed from Perth because he was disliked by his priests. A modern-day priest from the Archdiocese of Perth, Fr Robert Cross, recently told the West Australian that, “Bishop Brady was a zealous missionary but when it came to finances, that was not his forte." Fr Cross went on to add that, “Brady could survive on very little and lived a frugal life and I think he expected that of the others, and I don't think they wanted that.”

After laving his diocese, Bishop Brady went to Ireland and assisted the Bishop of Kilmore. Even so, he still remained Bishop of Perth until his death in 1871. He died whilst living Amélie-les-Bains, France, and was buried in the parish cemetery there. Until last week, it was assumed that Bishop Brady was visiting this small French town to bathe in its thermal springs, but new discoveries suggest that the Bishop was actually living and ministering in France when he died.

The search for Bishop Brady blog, which is covering the exhumation and transfer of John Brady’s remains, reports that:

“Bishop Brady was buried in a zinc-lined coffin, which was almost completely intact. The zinc lining had protected the remains inside and when the coffin was opened there was a complete skeleton inside! Further investigation of the coffin revealed that the Bishop was buried in a simple soutane without the adornments of a bishop, namely a ring or pectoral cross.”

The blog also reported on 21 March that one of the priests on the exhumation team noticed that:

“the grave behind Brady’s had been wrongly marked as belonging to ‘Jean Brady, Bishop of Perth’. The sign had been created as part of a festival recognising prominent men of Amelie-Les-Bains and mentioned that Bishop Brady was known to the Bishop of Perpignan. The sign also mentioned that Brady had assisted in the consecration of the local church when it was reopened in 1871.”

From this civic marker, it can be assumed that John Brady continued his episcopal ministry whilst in France, and that he wasn’t merely taking the waters at Amélie-les-Bains the day he died. Remarkably, until last week, Bishop Brady’s final years had been shrouded in secrecy, with some even speculating that he was not in good standing with the Church when he died.

The search for Bishop Brady blog provides a fascinating background to the story of Perth’s first bishop, and one of Western Australia’s great pioneers. It is also full of up-to-date images from the excavations at Amélie-les-Bains. Hopefully, Bishop Brady will now be able to rest in the Cathedral church of the Diocese he helped to create, with some of his dignity and reputation restored.

[Image: Bishop John Brady, from The search for Bishop Brady blog]