John Joseph Archbold OMI, RIP
Sadly Fr John Archbold passed away peacefully on Thursday 17th November 2022.
Fr John Archbold OMI was born the 9th October 1933 in Monasterevin, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
After his schooling at Knockbeg College, he took his first vows on 24th October 1952 at Cahermoyle and was ordained a Priest on 21st September 1958 at Piltown. He joined the staff of Belcamp College, where he was an exceptional teacher and was its headmaster from 1976 to 1984.
John’s great love for reading was the foundation that made him a great educator. To quote one of his contemporaries Fr Paul Byrne OMI, ‘He even put life into Latin.’ He was later responsible for the Province’s mission magazine, Oblate Missionary Record, and was based at Inchicore. He served in the Anglo-Irish Province for 36 years before coming to Australia.
Fr John arrived here in 1994, the last of a number of Anglo-Irish Oblates who came to assist the Australian Province. Since 1994, Fr John has spent time in Lesmurdie WA and Sunshine VIC, but St Patrick’s Fremantle has benefited from his ministry for most of these years. He was the first Oblate chaplain at Notre Dame University, and has assisted Fr Tony Colbert with the chaplaincy of Fremantle hospital.
Fr John’s love for his Irish homeland never faded, always sharing in a joke and good craic! He was a great storyteller, and loved a bet on the horses. Known affectionately as “Archy”, he was described as a “loveable rogue” with a big heart, who did all things well and loved the people he served.
Fr John passed away peacefully at 4:40am on Thursday 17th November 2022.
May he rest now in peace.
Funeral Details
The live streaming event for Fr John Archbold’s funeral are listed below.
Please note that the time listed is Western Australian time. You will have to set your watches to suit which Country, State or Territory you may be watching the funeral.
Fr John Archbold
is scheduled to begin on
Monday, November 28th 2022 at 1:45 PM AWST (Australia/Perth)
This is a public event, no PIN is required
Having difficulties viewing this event?
The scheduled start time may include 15 minutes of testing prior to the beginning of the event. Where it does, the Live Stream will commence shortly after testing is completed. If you are unable to view this event live, you can revisit this link at a later time to watch a recording of any live streams.
The Year of Oblate Vocations
Commencing on the 8th December 2017, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Oblate Year of Vocations was commissioned by the Superior General to celebrate and promote the Joy and Generosity of the Oblate Vocation.
On 8th December 2017, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, it was announced by our Superior General, Fr Louis Lougen OMI, that the following 12 months would be the Year of Oblate Vocations.
The theme given to this special occasion is 'Come and See!’ (John 1:39): Focusing on the Joy and Generosity of Our Oblate Life. This Year of Oblate Vocations is naturally dedicated to the promotion of vocations to the Oblate Life, in its many varied forms, both religious and lay. This Year of Oblate Vocations coincides with the Year of Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment, announced by Pope Francis and is already underway to the Synod later this year focusing on those three themes. Luckily for us, in Australia, we have a third layer on that cake, with the Australian Bishops announcing 2018 to be the Year of Youth for Australia. As we can see, the Church all over the world sees the importance that young people bring to our community and it is imperative to listen to their voices, for they are not just the Church of the future, they are the Church of today as well.
From these young people, will surely spring our future vocations. Although a vocations to the Oblate life can occur at any age, it is important that in this year we dedicate ourselves to our relationships with the youth, who walk alongside us in our missions and are often integral parts of that mission. All young people need a vocation, a calling, a direction in life. Many of them find it in their work, many will find it in single or married life; and a chosen few will find it in the consecrated life as a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate. All together we make up our Oblate family and it is important to foster the vocations of all people in our communities.
This year will provide an opportunity for us, as Oblates, to get out there and be visible witnesses to the joy and generosity of our Oblate vocation. This is a great opportunity to hold special events in your community to promote vocations. There will be resources provided for us to reflect on how we engage with the topic of vocations. And lastly, but by far not the least, this year draws us into a more dedicated spiritual practice of praying for vocations. This is one of the most important things we can do; wherever we are and whoever we are.
Stay posted on this website and on our social media for updates about this exciting occasion and I wish you all the best in your adventures for this Year of Oblate Vocations! Let us all renew our vocation to be Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
- Br Joshua Nash OMI