Mourners gather to pay respects to much loved Canberra clergyman

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Hundreds of people have gathered in Canberra to pay their respects to retired bishop Pat Power who died last week, aged 83. The beloved community leader has been celebrated as an outspoken champion for the vulnerable and a mad Rabbitohs fan.

Transcript

00:0060 years after he was ordained Pat Power was farewelled by a crowd that spilled out of St

00:09Christopher's Cathedral. Raised in Queanbeyan he was a schoolboy when he decided he wanted to be

00:17a priest. Always outspoken and a little rebellious this surprised many of his teachers. That spirit

00:24was a constant in his more than 25 years of service as the auxiliary bishop of Canberra and Goulburn.

00:31Speaking out against prejudice and inequality or advocating publicly for Aboriginal reconciliation,

00:38refugee welfare, peacekeeping, racial respect, the unemployed and the rights of the old and dying.

00:46He had other passions too. Encased in his coffin was a Rabbitohs jersey.

00:51He often said being a Rabbitohs supporter was like being Catholic. There were highs and lows but

00:57loyalty was everything. The former Bunnies coach and current steward of the Broncos took a break

01:03from NRL finals preparations to pay his respects. He's supported me in many different ways. Mad south

01:10man, obviously was able to share some very special times with Pat through that period of time. Others

01:16whose lives he touched remembered a man of the people. Even though he was a bishop, he insists on

01:22being called Pat, Father Pat, or just Pat. I became a teacher later and I tried to emulate the way he

01:28treated the students. He embraced everyone. He wasn't just for Catholics, he was for the whole of Canberra.

01:36Father Pat was laid to rest at Woden Cemetery, leaving behind a powerful legacy.

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