Deacon Nick Kerr

Adelaide Archdiocese was truly saddened by the death of Deacon Nick Kerr. He was ordained Permanent Deacon in September 2009, but his influence on the local church goes back much further, specially as editor of The Southern Cross for many years.

Nick was born in Adelaide on March 26 1940. He was educated at Sacred Heart College and spent a couple of years in St Francis Xavier Seminary, however that was not to be his calling. Later he attended the Adelaide Conservatorium.

That love of music, however, led him to meet the love of his life, Eveleen, and to almost 60 years of the strongest marriage. They had two children, Christian and Mariot.

As a young man he was always community minded which led to him becoming involved as a member of the state committee for the “yes” campaign in the 1967 Aboriginal Rights referendum and part of a lifelong commitment to the cause of Indigenous people.

The Kerr family had strong links to journalism and Nick followed the trend and he took a role with The Southern Cross newspaper from 1960. As a religious journalist, Nick had a long and illustrious career writing for and editing Christian publications; after the The Southern Cross he edited the Uniting Church’s New Times.

He was always involved in the life of the Church and the cathedral parish, but pursued his main mission through the media. He won countless awards for his efforts and was offered roles in Rome and elsewhere overseas — even, at one stage, a partnership in a major public relations firm.

But far more important than any professional association accolades or job offerings was the particular recognition he received in 1981 when he was awarded a Knighthood in the Order of Saint Sylvester by Saint John Paul II. He was also awarded the Gutenberg Award for excellence by the Australasian Religious Press Association and was granted life membership of the Australasian Catholic Press Association. He served several terms as president of the Australian Catholic Press Association.

Deacon Nick had a strong commitment to religious unity and served as executive officer of Diocesan Ecumenical and Interfaith Council.

In 1998 he was part of the World Council of Churches communications team at the World Assembly in Zimbabwe. Afterwards he went to Nairobi to meet Sudanese refugees. On other visits to Africa he spent time with refugees in the Nairobi slums, in the Kakuma Refugee Camp and in displaced people’s camps.

This led to a life long interest and concern for African refugees in Australia, welcoming many into his home and sponsoring a number of refugees.

As Christian said in his eulogy: Nick believed truth and justice would prevail through the greatness of God — but not through some roll of thunder of coming from above and a flash of lightning, but the greatness of God inspiring the goodness of men and women everywhere. And that greatness, he believed, was best expressed by service. My father served God by serving his fellow men and women and served his fellow men and women by serving God."

Nick was ordained to the permanent diaconate on September 12 2009 and held leadership positions in the Church, including chair of the National Association of Deacons and delegate to the Executive of the International Diaconate Centre (IDC).

He served the Church as a deacon at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral and through his pastoral work with the African Catholic community. What really delighted him was the joy he gained from serving the Church in a new role and the joy he witnessed at the weddings and baptisms he conducted, and the greater involvement the Diaconate gave him with his African friends, being able to officiate at the African Mass as well as advising and advocating for the African community.

Christian described his father as “A fine man with a gentle spirit”. "That gentle spirit, I suspect, might be the key to understanding Dad. I saw him exhausted. I saw him frustrated. I saw him upset. I saw him in pain. I virtually never saw him angry. And I don’t recall him uttering a bitter word. He didn’t preach. He didn’t moralise."

Anyone who worked with Nick or knew him well would endorse those words.

Nick died peacefully in the Royal Adelaide Hospital on July 27. Because of COVID restrictions his funeral Mass, limited to 50, was celebrated in the Cathedral on August 20, but a Memorial Mass for Nick was held on the previous evening.

As Archbishop Patrick O’Regan said, Deacon Nick will be lovingly remembered and deeply missed by all clergy, Religious and people of the Archdiocese and beyond.

“He will be grieved by us all, but our hearts and prayers go first to his wife Eveleen and their children Christian and Mariot,” he said.

May he rest in peace.