Mgr William Allan Mullins

Mgr William Mullins was formerly a priest of the Adelaide Archdiocese. He later became a priest of the Sydney Archdiocese. He died at the age of 99 on November 16 2023.

William was born the second of six children to Dorothy and Allan in Petersham on March 26, 1924, and educated at Domremy Convent in Five Dock and De La Salle College in Ashfield.

He joined the De La Salle congregation as a brother at the tender age of 14. He was quickly identified as a gifted scholar. He gained a BA from the University of Melbourne, MEd from the University of Sydney, and MA and PhD from the Catholic University of America (Washington DC).

As a De La Salle brother he taught in various schools in Victoria and NSW but in 1969 he was appointed to the Congregation for Catholic Education at the Vatican in its schools section. Thus his vocation as a teacher took him from Sydney to Rome in that post-Vatican II era which was rich with new opportunities for non-clerics to serve the church.

Somehow during this time he became friends with Bishop James Gleeson of Adelaide who frequently visited Rome in his role with “Cor Unum” - the Pontifical Council for the Church’s charitable outreach.

In 1974 he took leave from his congregation and resigned his Vatican post to undertake study for the priesthood. After only one year of seminary study at St Paul’s National Seminary in Sydney at the age of 51 he was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Adelaide by Archbishop James Gleeson on November 1 1975 in Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Kensington NSW.

He served as assistant priest in Hectorville and Mount Gambier and also on the staff at St Francis Xavier Seminary in Adelaide. He was a member of the Jordan Kennedy Scholarship Committee and also the Priestly Life and Ministry Committee. In June 1979 he was invited back to Rome by then-prefect of the congregation Cardinal Garrone, this time for the universities section, and stayed there until his retirement from Vatican service in 1990.

During that time he worked closely with Pope Paul VI and then Pope John Paul II in their work of overseeing the world’s Catholic schools, universities, seminaries and other institutes of learning. Both later were declared saints, and much later in life Monsignor Mullins joked that he only hoped some of their holiness had “rubbed off” on him.

 In 1986 he was appointed a Prelate of Honour with the title of Monsignor.

Returning to Sydney in 1990 at the invitation of Cardinal Edward Clancy, he worked as assistant secretary at the chancery, before being incardinated into the Sydney Archdiocese on May 21 1997. He worked in a variety of pastoral and administrative roles, before moving to lesser duties in December 2000.

For some time he served as a board member of The Catholic Weekly.

Mgr Mullins showed little sign of slowing down as he grew older, and in recent years stayed active celebrating Masses, hearing confessions and working part-time at the chancery, much to the delight of those who knew him well. Known affectionately as “Mons” he was a regular presence for staff who appreciated his gentle presence, humour, and well-prepared homilies at weekday Masses. He said the scriptures were the love of his life.

In 2013 he published his memoir From Brotherhood to Priesthood, in which he traced his life and career through his earlier years teaching in DLS schools and colleges, and following his ordination to the priesthood his work as a seminary professor, and then when he served as an official of the Vatican’s Education Congregation. 

He was very popular among the chancery staff, as one member stated: “He was a gifted spiritual director who placed great importance on the need for stewardship of church resources. The chancery staff were his second family. He made time for everybody and he was a wonderful priest to go to for confession – very gentle, very pious, and he placed great trust in me.”

In his retirement at Watsons Bay he continued some administrative work for the Diocese. He often celebrated the 9am Mass on Sundays in the Cathedral. He surrendered that ministry at the age of 98.

Monsignor Mullins died November 16 2023 aged 99 years. He is survived by his older sister Joan Mullins aged 101 years, sister-in-law Fay Mullins and large extended family.

Pontifical Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial for Reverend Monsignor William Allan Mullins was offered in St Mary’s Cathedral, College Street, Sydney on Tuesday December 5, 2023. His remains were interred in the Rookwood Catholic Cemetery.

May he rest in peace.