Fr Peter John McIntyre

Early Life

Peter John McIntyre was born on October 31, 1932, the first son to Pat and Hilda, and brother to Frank and Therese. The family lived in Salisbury and after attending the local school Peter went to Sacred Heart College.

In 1948 he entered St Francis Xavier’s Seminary in Adelaide where he completed his secondary education and began studies for the priesthood, and completed them at St Patrick’s College, Manly. He was ordained in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, Adelaide on July 21,1956.

First appointments

After completing his studies Fr Peter returned to Adelaide and on December 24, 1956 and was appointed Assistant Priest at Kapunda with Fr Bill Bustelli. This was a time when there was an abundance of priests in the Archdiocese. This was the first time Kapunda had a young assistant priest, so he was well received and engaged well with many families, horse-riding on local farm properties and the like. He also formed a close relationship with the Dominican Sisters, which was renewed when he was Parish Priest of Goodwood, including Cabra Convent, and later at Glenelg.

He remained in Kapunda for a little over a year and on April 19, 1958 he was appointed Assistant Priest in the Parkside parish. He remained there for just over five years before being appointed Assistant priest at Woodville.

On January 27, 1965 Fr Peter was appointed Parish Priest of Kingston in the South East, where he remained for four years. This was an isolated parish, which was hard after city life, but he became well engaged with the local community.

His next appointment in February 1969 was as Parish Priest of the Greenacres/Enfield parish.

Other duties

In November 1970 Fr Peter was elected as a member of the fairly newly established Senate of Priests as it was called at that time. Initially it was a two year appointment. He was also a member of the Senate Coordinating committee. In May 1970 he was elected Chairman of the Senate; he was re-elected Chairman again the following year and served two terms on the Senate.

In January 1977 Fr Peter took some study leave. His love for the liturgy prompted him to undertake a course in liturgy at Berkley University in USA. However due to illness his leave was extended and he returned to work in September 1977.

In December 1978 he was elected a member of the Priestly Life and Ministry Committee for a term of two years, which reflected the great respect he enjoyed from his fellow clergy.

In January 1982 Fr Peter was appointed Parish Priest of Goodwood – a position he held for ten years. During this time he took some extended leave to travel overseas with his classmate Fr Vincent Regan.

In January 1992 he was appointed Parish Priest of Glenelg, initially for a term of six years, however he remained there for sixteen years. In later life he did not enjoy good health and became more reserved. But he was committed to his pastoral duties. He had a great love for the liturgy, celebrated Mass with great devotion and was an excellent preacher. He enjoyed the confidence of his fellow priests and served as an advisor to some of the younger priests, even beyond this Archdiocese.

Retirement

On 24 January 2008 Fr Peter retired as Parish Priest. Initially he lived in a unit in Chapel Street, Glenelg. Shortly after retiring the title of Pastor Emeritus was conferred on him. As his health declined he took up residence in Murphy Villa where he stayed for over three years, during which time he experienced a number of episodes of serious illness. His final weeks were spent in Mary Potter Hospice where he died peacefully on June 26, 2015.

His Funeral Mass was celebrated on 2 July in Our Lady of Victories Church at Glenelg, his last parish. About 200 of his family and friends and forty clergy from Adelaide and Port Pirie diocese attended.

Given his long association with the Dominican Sisters it was appropriate that the eulogy was given by their Congregational Leader, Sr Bernadette Kiley. She spoke of his gift of celebrating the Eucharist and preaching. “He brought to each Eucharistic celebration beauty, energy, a deep and natural reverence and in instinctive ability to gather the congregation together, with him.  The Eucharist was allowed to speak for itself…..He had that rare gift, each time he preached, of offering to us a God of exquisite tenderness who loved each one of us to bits.  While there was often a challenge in what he said, I can never remember coming out of Mass feeling burdened.”

She spoke also of his effectiveness as Parish Priest, referring to “his ability to see quickly into the heart of things, coupled with great common sense and practical compassion, gifts he gave generously to the parishes where he worked….. Peter carried out his work as a Parish Priest in the wider context of the church – a church he loved, even if sometimes some of the actions of its people puzzled and even saddened him.  But these questions and ruminations never stopped him investing all of his energy in his parish ministry and even after retirement he continued to serve in other places in whatever ways he could until failing health dictated otherwise.” 

Mgr Rob Egar, in his homily said that Peter felt greatly the loss of his lifetime friend and fellow ordinand Fr Vincent Regan. Fr Vin died suddenly on the 6th of February 1999 while convalescing in Peter’s presbytery at Glenelg.

Although Fr Peter never served as priest in the Salisbury parish he never forgot his family connections with the parish so his remains were interred in the Salisbury Pioneer Catholic cemetery alongside his parents Patrick and Hilda. He is the third priest buried there. Fr William Flanagan and Fr Aldo de Luca, both of whom served in the Salisbury parish are the other two.

May he rest in Peace.