Victor Doyle 

Victor Doyle was parish priest at St Bede’s from 1963 until 1974, and also Port of Sydney Chaplain. As Pyrmont’s population dwindled, his work with seafarers took up more of his energy and time. Father Doyle was particularly skilled in reconciling his two responsibilities, and the bodies that supervised them. He was equally effective in organising St Bede’s centenary celebrations in 1967, writing a book and launching a week of religious and social events.

In the face of depopulation, the church authorities considered the option of closing St Bede’s and selling the site (as they did later to St Francis Xavier Church in Ultimo), so these festivities were acts of defiance, summed up in Father Doyle’s declaration “I’m NEVER going to sell my church”.

Related Item

• St Bede’s Catholic Church

Further Reading

• C.F. Fowler, 150 Years on Pyrmont Peninsula: the Catholic Community of Saint Bede 1867-2017